nisam nisi nije

Negative of Biti

Level 1

Ne and sam, si, je, smo, ste, su join into one word: nisam, nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu.

How It Works

The verb biti (to be) makes its negative by fusing ne with the short form. Notice that je becomes nije.

PersonPositiveNegative
jasamnisam
tisinisi
on, ona, onojenije
mismonismo
visteniste
oni, one, onasunisu

Adjectives still agree with the person: Amir nije umoran, but Lejla nije umorna. In a question you can start with Da li: Da li si umoran? The answer can be a short Nisam. or Jesam. When a sentence has a noun, as in Nije kafa, the negative form simply comes before it.

Examples (4)

  1. Nisam umoran.

    I am not tired.

    Nisam is ne and sam in one word.

  2. Lejla nije kod kuće.

    Lejla is not at home.

    Nije is the negative of je.

  3. Nismo gladni.

    We are not hungry.

    Nismo goes with mi.

  4. Amir i Haris nisu u školi.

    Amir and Haris are not at school.

    Nisu goes with several people.

Common Mistakes

  • Splitting the negative into two words.

    Ne sam umoran.
    Nisam umoran.

    With the verb biti, ne joins the short form and becomes one word.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

nisam nisi nijeLevel 1Negative of Biti

Learn This First

The negative forms mirror the present of biti.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

biti