Koristiti

Koristiti is a verb in Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Montenegrin that means to use, employ, or make use of something. It is a common, neutral term used in a wide range of contexts, from everyday actions to more technical or formal language. The verb can describe using objects, resources, opportunities, or methods.

The word is derived from the noun korist, meaning use or benefit, and shares its etymology with related terms across South Slavic languages. It forms part of a productive verbal system with both imperfective and perfective aspect pairs.

In present tense, the standard conjugation is: ja koristim, ti koristiš, on/ona/ono koristi, mi koristimo, vi koristite, oni/one koriste. The verb is typically imperfective, indicating an ongoing or habitual action. A perfective counterpart is iskoristiti, used to denote having taken advantage of something or having utilized something to its fullest extent. The pair is often employed in phrases such as iskorištavanje prilika (exploitation or utilization of opportunities) or iskoristiti priliku (to seize the opportunity).

Common derivatives include korištenje or iskorištavanje (nouns for utilization or exploitation), korisnik (user), and koristan (useful). Past tense forms use the appropriate auxiliary and participles: koristio/koristila/koristilo (I used), depending on gender. In usage, korisitti tends to be neutral, while iskorištavati carries a sense of taking advantage or exploiting, which can be negative in some contexts.

See also: koristan, korištenje, korisnik, iskoristiti, iskorištavanje.