If you have ever tried to learn a language through music, you already know the magic - a melody carries words straight into memory, and before long you are singing grammar without even realising it. Today we are doing exactly that with a beautiful Serbian song that practises one of the most useful structures you will ever need: the future tense. Grab a pen, fill in the blanks, and enjoy the ride.
This post is designed for learners at the A2-B1 level who already know a little Serbian and want to consolidate the future tense in a natural, enjoyable way. Even if you are a complete beginner, the vocabulary notes and extra examples below will make sure you walk away with something valuable.
What does this song practise?
The song practises the Serbian future tense in a deeply emotional context - the narrator is confronting the painful reality that someone they love is going to leave them. Every verb in the chorus and verses is either in the future tense or sets it up, which makes the song a perfect vehicle for learning how "will + verb" works in Serbian.
In Serbian, the future tense is most commonly formed by combining a short form of the verb hteti (to want / to will) with the infinitive of the main verb. The short forms are: cu, ces, ce, cemo, cete, ce (written with the correct diacritic: ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će). So "I will go" is ići ću or, in everyday speech, ću ići. Once you hear this pattern in the song, you will start spotting it everywhere in Serbian conversation.
Hear it
Listen to the song at least once all the way through before you attempt the gap-fill below. Pay attention to the stressed syllables and to the places where the future tense forms appear - you will hear them clearly because they carry emotional weight in the melody.
The gap-fill
Below are the original lyrics with the future-tense verb forms removed. Your task is to listen to the song and fill in each blank with the correct future-tense form. The first time, try to fill in the blanks from memory or from a single listen; the second time, use the table in the next section to check your reasoning.
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.
Take your time. The blanks correspond to the following persons and verbs (in order): ćeš ... ostaviti (you will leave), nećeš ... ozdraviti (you will not recover), ćeš ... ići (you will go), će ... dolaziti (they will come), će ... pevati (they will sing), će ... pratiti (they will accompany), budeš (a conditional-future form used in subordinate clauses), ćeš ... zaboraviti (you will forget). Do not worry if you got a few wrong - the point is to notice the pattern, not to be perfect on the first try.
How the future tense works
The Serbian future tense is formed by placing a short clitic form of hteti either before or after the infinitive of the main verb. In everyday spoken Serbian you will most often hear the clitic before the infinitive - "Ja cu ici" (with the correct diacritic: "Ja ću ići") - but in formal writing the infinitive sometimes comes first. The negative future is formed simply by replacing the short clitic with necu, neces, etc. (again, with diacritics: neću, nećeš).
There is also a colloquial construction you will hear in the south and in folk songs: the particle da followed by the present tense can carry a future meaning in certain contexts, which is why lyrics can sometimes feel slightly different from textbook Serbian - but the core future-tense pattern with će + infinitive remains the most reliable and universal form to master first.
More Serbian examples
Here is a set of future-tense sentences to practise with. Say them out loud - ideally several times - and pay attention to the clitic form and where it sits in the sentence.
| Serbian (Latin) | English |
|---|---|
| Ja ću sutra ići u Beograd. | I will go to Belgrade tomorrow. |
| Ti ćeš naučiti srpski. | You will learn Serbian. |
| On će doći večeras. | He will come this evening. |
| Mi ćemo zajedno učiti. | We will study together. |
| Ona će pevati lepo. | She will sing beautifully. |
| Vi ćete razumeti sve. | You (plural) will understand everything. |
| Oni će doći iz Novog Sada. | They will come from Novi Sad. |
| Neću te zaboraviti nikad. | I will never forget you. |
| Nećeš ozdraviti ako ne spavaš. | You will not recover if you do not sleep. |
| Hoće li ona sutra raditi? | Will she work tomorrow? |
Notice how the negative future replaces the short clitic with the full negative form: neću, nećeš, neće, nećemo, nećete, neće. And notice how questions are formed with hoće li + infinitive, or simply by intonation in informal speech. Both patterns appear naturally in the song lyrics above.
Vocabulary from the song
Here are some key words from the lyrics that are worth adding to your vocabulary list right now:
| Serbian word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ostaviti | to leave (someone) |
| ozdraviti | to recover, to get better |
| oči (pl.) | eyes |
| duša | soul |
| kolo | traditional circle dance |
| svila | silk |
| tamburaši | tamburica players (folk musicians) |
| zaboraviti | to forget |
Frequently asked questions
Is the future tense in Serbian the same as in English?
The structure is very similar - you combine an auxiliary (the short form of hteti) with the main verb's infinitive. The biggest difference is that Serbian has short clitic forms that can attach to other words and shift position in the sentence depending on what is being emphasised.
Why does the song use "da" + present tense in some places?
Serbian folk songs, especially those from the south and from the Slavonian tradition, sometimes use da + present tense to express futurity in dependent clauses, or simply because the dialect or poetic metre demands it. It is a real and natural feature of the language, not an error.
How do I form the future tense in a question?
Use hoće li + infinitive for third person questions (Hoće li on doći? - Will he come?), or simply raise your intonation in informal speech: Ćeš doći? (Are you going to come?). Both are correct and widely used.
What level do I need to be to use this lesson?
The gap-fill itself is accessible from A2 onwards. If you are a complete beginner, focus on the example sentences table and the vocabulary list, and come back to the gap-fill once you have covered the basics of Serbian conjugation.
Can I use this song to practise Cyrillic too?
Absolutely - once you are comfortable with the Latin-script version, try writing out the lyrics in Cyrillic. It is wonderful reading practice, and the emotional weight of the song will help the Cyrillic letter shapes stick.
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Music is one of the most powerful tools you have for learning Serbian, and I hope this song stays with you long after you close this page. Keep singing, keep filling in those blanks, and remember: every future-tense form you hear in a song is one more step toward real fluency. You are doing wonderfully - ići ćeš daleko! (You will go far!)
- Marina Petrovic
Want to go deeper with Serbian verbs? Head over to the More verb practice hub for conjugation tables, audio drills, and more exercises just like this one.