Govori se da me varaš
i da _______ me ostaviti
a znaš dobro da sam bolan
i da ___________ ozdraviti
Znam da više prava nemam
na te tvoje oči crne
slaži makar da me voliš
ne daj da mi duša trne
Ti _______ opet ić' u kolo
dolazit ______ polivači
pivat _________ pisme stare
pratit _______ vas tamburaši
A nediljom kad _____ šetaš
šuškat će na tebi svila
sigurno ________ zaboravit'
da si kadgod moja bila
ne lomi mi srcu grane
sačekaj da samo stane.
The missing auxiliaries carry the whole prediction
Future I combines a short form of hteti—ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će—with an infinitive. When the infinitive comes first, verbs ending in -ti commonly merge with the auxiliary in standard Serbian: pevaću, radićeš, zaboraviće. With a separate auxiliary first, keep the infinitive: Ja ću pevati.
The lyrics contain regional forms such as ić’, pivat, pisme and nediljom. They belong to the voice and setting of the song, so listen to them as they are. For standard Serbian practice, compare them with ići, pevati, pesme and nedeljom rather than silently replacing the original lines.
A regional song shortens what standard Serbian spells out
| Latinica | Ћирилица | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sutra ću ponovo poslušati poslednju strofu. | Сутра ћу поново послушати последњу строфу. | Tomorrow I will listen to the final verse again. |
| Tamburaši će pratiti svatove do stare kuće. | Тамбураши ће пратити сватове до старе куће. | The tambura players will accompany the wedding party to the old house. |
| Hoćeš li zapamtiti reči bez gledanja u tekst? | Хоћеш ли запамтити речи без гледања у текст? | Will you remember the words without looking at the lyrics? |
| U nedelju ćemo pevati pesme iz njenog kraja. | У недељу ћемо певати песме из њеног краја. | On Sunday, we will sing songs from her region. |
| Ona neće zaboraviti obećanje iz mladosti. | Она неће заборавити обећање из младости. | She will not forget the promise from her youth. |
Rebuild the promises one voice at a time
Listen once without writing and identify only the future auxiliaries. On the second pass, fill the gaps; afterwards, rewrite three completed lines in standard Serbian and underline what changed outside the future tense.
- Future auxiliary for ti?
- Complete: Mi ______ pevati.
- Write neće zaboraviti in Cyrillic.
- Standard Serbian equivalent of pivat?
- Turn into a question: Ti ćeš zapamtiti.
The chorus reveals who will leave and who will remember
- ćeš
- ćemo
- неће заборавити
- pevati
- Hoćeš li zapamtiti?
Sing one completed verse, then make a new prediction about tomorrow using the same person but a different verb. The melody supplies the rhythm; your sentence proves that the tense is yours.
Marina Petrović