nisam / nisi / nije / nismo / niste / nisu

Negative Biti

Level 1

The negative present of biti has six forms: nisam, nisi, nije, nismo, niste and nisu. Write each form as one word.

How It Works

The person sequence is ja nisam, ti nisi, on/ona/ono nije, mi nismo, vi niste, oni/one/ona nisu. These negative forms can carry stress and begin a sentence: Nisam umoran.

Keep agreement in the rest of the sentence. A woman can say Nisam umorna. and a man Nisam umoran.; nisam itself does not change with gender.

Later, the same negative forms negate compound perfect sentences such as Nisam čitao. Do not use that fact to add a past meaning to every sentence with nisam: the present predicate determines what is being denied.

Examples (4)

  1. Nisam umorna.

    I am not tired.

    A female speaker uses umorna; nisam stays first-person singular.

  2. Nismo u Zagrebu.

    We are not in Zagreb.

    Nismo negates a first-person plural location.

  3. Ova knjiga nije moja.

    This book is not mine.

    Nije is the singular negative linking verb.

  4. Oni nisu spremni.

    They are not ready.

    Nisu matches a plural subject.

How It Connects

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

nisam / nisi / nije / nismo / niste / nisuLevel 1Negative Biti

Learn This First

The ordinary present forms provide the comparison for negative or stressed forms of biti.

Words in This Pattern

biti