Kupovati

Kupovati is a verb in Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin that means to buy or to purchase. It is the imperfective aspect of the action, used for repeated, habitual, or ongoing buying, as well as future actions that are not viewed as completed. Its perfective counterpart is kupiti, which denotes a single, completed purchase. The verb is common in everyday speech and in commercial and consumer contexts.

Etymology and cognates: kupovati descends from Proto-Slavic and has cognates across South Slavic languages. Related nouns include kupovina (the act of buying, purchase) and kupac (buyer). The pair kupovati (imperfective) and kupiti (perfective) is characteristic of many Slavic verb systems, reflecting aspectual distinctions rather than different lexical meanings.

Conjugation and usage: In the present tense, the forms are: ja kupujem, ti kupuješ, on kupuje, mi kupujemo, vi kupujete, oni kupuju. The imperfective kupovati is used for ongoing or repeated purchases, e.g., Ja kupujem kruh svakog dana. The perfective kupiti expresses a single completed purchase, e.g., Kupio sam kruh. For future reference, the imperfective future is formed with an auxiliary and the infinitive (ću kupovati), while the perfective future uses a single finite form (kupiću). Imperative forms are kupuj (singular) and kupujte (plural).

See also: kupovina, kupac, kupiti.

Notes: The exact conjugation can vary slightly among standardized Croat, Serb, Bosniak, and Montenegrin varieties, but the overall aspectual distinction between kupovati and kupiti remains consistent.