Konsultovati

Konsultovati is a verb used in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian to mean to seek advice, information, or guidance from someone, or to refer to a source for guidance. It is commonly used with the reflexive form konsultovati se to indicate the act of seeking counsel from another person, for example, konsultovati se sa lekarom or konsultovati se sa stručnjakom. The non-reflexive form can be used when one consults a source or a person directly, as in konsultovati advokata or konsultovati dokument.

Etymology: the word is derived from Latin consulere, meaning to take counsel or to be of service, and was adapted into South Slavic languages with the common infinitive suffix -ovati. The development reflects standard Balkan borrowing from Latin through various routes, including Italian and neighboring languages.

Usage notes: kons

ultovati is employed in formal, professional, and administrative contexts, including medicine, law, business, and academia. In practice, konsul­tovati se is the prevailing construction for seeking advice, while konsul­tovati can be used when the act is directed toward a specific person or document. Prepositions vary by language variant, with со or sa often appearing before a person or expert when using the reflexive form.

Related terms: konsul­tacija (consultation), konsultan(t) (consultant). The term is part of a family of verbs in which consulting or seeking guidance is the central sense, and it interacts with common phrases for medical, legal, or academic guidance.

See also: consultation, consultant, advisory.