You will meet them mostly in literature, fairy tales and the Bible; recognising them is enough.
Aorist (mainly perfective verbs): a single completed past action.
| uraditi | reći | doći | biti | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ja | uradih | rekoh | dođoh | bih |
| ti, on | uradi | reče | dođe | bi |
| mi | uradismo | rekosmo | dođosmo | bismo |
| vi | uradiste | rekoste | dođoste | biste |
| oni | uradiše | rekoše | dođoše | biše |
You recognise bih, bi, bismo…: the conditional auxiliary is the old aorist of biti. In speech, the aorist expresses something that has just happened: Ode autobus! — The bus has just left! Rekoh ti! — I told you!
Imperfect (imperfective verbs, very literary): endings -ah, -aše, -asmo, -aste, -ahu: bijaše (he was), imaše (he had), govorahu (they were saying). Bijaše jednom jedan car… — Once upon a time there was an emperor…
Pluperfect (pluskvamperfekat) = bio sam + participle: Kad sam stigao, voz je već bio otišao. — When I arrived, the train had already left. In speech, more simply: voz je već otišao.
Translate the words from your reading, review them as flashcards and practise with gap-fill sentences.
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