немој / немојте + Infinitive / да + Present-Tense Verb

In everyday Serbian, немој and немојте are the primary, most natural tools for asking someone not to do something.

1. Forms and Agreement
Although defective as a verb (it lacks past or future tenses), this word inflects for person and number like an imperative:

• немој — addressing one person informally (ти)
• немојте — addressing multiple people or one person politely (учтиво ви)
• немојмо — "let's not" (ми, less frequent, more stylistic)

2. Sentence Structures and Clitic Placement
You can construct negative requests in two ways:

• Немој(те) + да + present tense: Very common in spoken Serbian. When the addressee performs the action, the present-tense verb matches the person and number of немој(те) (e.g., Немој да бринеш vs. Немојте да бринете). However, in cautionary, preventative, or permissive requests, a 3rd-person or impersonal subject can also follow: Немој да неко види! ("Don't let anyone see!") or Немој да буде забуне. ("Let there be no confusion.")
  Clitic order: Pronoun clitics and reflexive се follow standard second-position rules within the subordinate clause, placing directly after да: Немој да се плашиш.
• Немој(те) + infinitive: Neutral and standard, common in both speech and writing.
  Example: Немој бринути. / Немојте каснити.
  Clitic order: Clitics follow standard clause-level second-position rules (short pronouns and clitics). If немој(те) begins the clause, the clitic follows it directly (e.g., Немој се плашити; Немој му то рећи). However, if another word or constituent comes first, clitics attach after that first element instead (e.g., Ти се немој плашити; То му немој рећи).

3. Aspect: Natural Directives with Perfective Verbs
While bare negative imperatives with perfective verbs survive in certain set phrases and idioms (e.g., Не заборави!, Не реци двапут!), modern standard Serbian strongly avoids bare negated perfective imperatives in general productive use. Therefore, немој(те) is the standard, preferred vehicle when prohibiting a specific, completed action:

• With perfective verbs: prevents a single, completed action or serves as a sharp cautionary warning (e.g., Немој да поломиш чашу! — "Don't break the glass!", Немој то да кажеш! — "Don't say that!").
• With imperfective verbs: halts an ongoing action or forms a general prohibition (e.g., Немој да вичеш! — "Don't shout! / Stop shouting!").

4. Standalone and Idiomatic Use
Немој can stand alone as an ellipsis when the intended action is clear from context (e.g., – Да отворим прозор? – Немој! — "Should I open the window? – Don't!"). It is also used idiomatically to express surprise, disbelief, or mild irony: Ма немој! ("You don't say!").

5. Spelling Note
The negative prefix is fused into a single word: немој and немојте are never written with a space.