желети / хтети + да + Present-Tense Verb

To express intentions, desires, or plans in Serbian, use the verbs хтети or желети followed by the conjunction да and a subordinate verb conjugated in the present tense.

1. Conjugating the Main Verbs:
• желети follows standard present endings: желим, желиш, жели, желимо, желите, желе.
• хтети is irregular throughout the present tense with a stem change (хоћ-): хоћу, хоћеш, хоће, хоћемо, хоћете, хоће. Notice that the 3rd person plural form (они хоће) is identical to the 3rd person singular (он хоће).
• Full vs. Short Forms: The enclitic short forms (ћу, ћеш, ће...) are strictly auxiliary verbs used to form the future tense and can never express volition on their own (see Future I). The full forms (хоћу, хоћеш, хоће...) express the active desire "to want" in ordinary declarative statements (e.g., Хоћу да радим — I want to work). However, note that full forms also serve as future auxiliaries in questions with the question particle ли (e.g., Хоћеш ли доћи? — Will you come?) or in sentence-initial emphatic positions.
• Negation: хтети merges with the negative particle into a single word (нећу, нећеш, неће, нећемо, нећете, неће), while желети uses standard negation (не желим, не желиш...; see verb negation). Note that because the enclitic future auxiliary ћу cannot be negated directly, нећу performs double duty in Serbian: it expresses volitional refusal ("I do not want to") as well as the negative future ("I will not").

2. Subject Agreement:
• Same subject: Both verbs share the same person ending.
(Ја) желим да учим. (I want to study.)
• Different subjects: The second verb takes the ending of whoever is performing the desired action.
Хоћу да (ти) спаваш. (I want you to sleep.)

3. Verb Aspect After «Да»:
In independent sentences, the present tense in Serbian is almost always restricted to imperfective verbs for ongoing actions. However, after да, you can freely use either a perfective or imperfective verb:
• Use a perfective verb when you want to achieve a single, bounded result: Хоћу да купим карту (I want to buy a ticket — a one-time completed act).
• Use an imperfective verb for an ongoing, durative, or repeated activity: Хоћу да купујем цео дан (I want to shop all day — a continuous process).

4. Word Order and Clitics:
Whenever a clause with да contains short clitics (such as the reflexive particle се or short pronouns like ти, га, му), they must be placed immediately after да:
Желим да се одморим. (I want to rest.)
Хоћу да ти кажем нешто. (I want to tell you something.)

5. Nuance and Politeness:
• Хоћу да... is direct. When ordering food or asking for services in public, saying Хоћу да наручим кафу! can sound blunt. For polite requests, use Молим вас... (please) or conditional forms.
• Желим да... is polite, reflective, and standard in everyday conversation.

6. «Да + Презент» vs. The Infinitive:
In standard contemporary Serbian, да + present is overwhelmingly the preferred and most natural pattern (e.g., Желим да радим). The infinitive (e.g., Желим радити) remains grammatically valid in standard Serbian, but only when both verbs share the exact same subject. Whenever subjects differ, the да + present clause is obligatory: you can say Хоћу да спаваш (I want you to sleep), but never *Хоћу те спавати.