има / нема

Saying There Is or Is Not

Level 1Sounds Like ima; nema za postoǰan̂e

To state that something exists, is present, or is available, use the invariable form има (there is / there are). To state that something does not exist or is absent, use нема (there is not / there are not). These forms never change for plural subjects.

How It Works

In Serbian, expressing existence or availability is fundamentally different from expressing personal possession.

1. Present-Tense Invariable 3rd Person Singular
In the present tense, existential има and нема strictly stay in the 3rd person singular, regardless of whether the noun that follows is singular or plural. They never take plural verb endings:
• Овде има људи. (There are people here.) [NOT: Овде имају људи]
• Има проблема. (There are problems.) [NOT: Имају проблеми]

Note on other tenses: Има and нема are strictly present-tense existential verbs. In other tenses, Serbian suppletes to forms of бити (such as past било је / није било or future биће / неће бити) followed by the genitive. Never create past or future forms directly from имати for existence (e.g., avoid имало је or имаће).

2. Case Requirements
• Negative (нема): Strictly requires the genitive case in all contexts, singular or plural: Нема проблема (There is no problem / No problem), Нема воде (There is no water).
• Affirmative (има): Most commonly uses the genitive case with uncountable mass nouns and plural groups: Има кафе (There is coffee), Има места (There is room/space). When introducing a single, specific countable noun (often with један/једна/једно), the nominative singular is also standard: Има једна продавница (There is a shop).

3. No Dummy Subject
Serbian has no equivalent to the English filler pronoun 'there' or 'it'. Never add a pronoun like *то before има or нема.

4. Questions
To ask if something exists, form a standard question using да ли or the enclitic ли:
• Има ли овде воде? (Is there water here?)
• Да ли има слободних соба? (Are there any free rooms?)

Examples (4)

  1. Има ли овде негде апотека?

    Is there a pharmacy somewhere here?

    Word by Word: There-is question-particle here somewhere pharmacy?

    Uses 'има' with the question particle 'ли' to ask about the existence or availability of a place nearby.

  2. Данас нема часова у школи.

    There are no classes at school today.

    Word by Word: Today there-is-not classes.GEN in school.LOC.

    'Нема' is followed by the genitive plural 'часова' to express absence.

  3. У овом граду има много лепих паркова.

    In this town, there are many beautiful parks.

    Word by Word: In this town there-is many beautiful parks.GEN.

    Even though multiple parks are described, the verb stays singular as 'има'.

  4. Нема проблема!

    No problem! / There is no problem!

    Word by Word: There-is-not problem.GEN!

    A common everyday idiom where 'нема' governs the genitive singular 'проблема'.

Common Mistakes

  • Conjugating the verb into the plural because the noun is plural.

    Овде имају људи.
    Овде има људи.

    Existential 'има' forms an impersonal clause and strictly stays in the 3rd person singular present form. It never agrees with a plural noun (имају људи).

  • Using the nominative case instead of the genitive after 'нема'.

    Данас нема време.
    Данас нема времена.

    The negative existential verb 'нема' strictly triggers the genitive case ('времена', not the dictionary form 'време').

  • Adding 'то' as a subject of 'нема'.

    Different MeaningТо нема проблема.
    Нема проблема.

    'То нема проблема' is grammatical, but 'то' is then a real subject: 'that has no problems'. For 'no problem' as an existential statement, Serbian uses 'Нема проблема' with no subject.

How It Connects

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

има / немаLevel 1Saying There Is or Is Not

Learn This First

To state that something exists or does not exist using 'има' and 'нема', learners need to be familiar with the verb 'имати' (to avoid confusing possession with existence) and the genitive case, which is required after the negative form 'нема'.

Words in This Pattern

иматинемати