Ponavljati

Ponavljati is a verb used in several South Slavic languages, including Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian. It means to repeat, reiterate, or go over something again. The term covers both repeating actions for learning or practice and the recurrence of events or phenomena.

In terms of aspect, ponavljati is imperfective and typically used for repeated or habitual actions. It can take a direct object, as in ponavljati nešto (to repeat something) or ponavljati riječi (to repeat words). It can also be used intransitively with a reflexive or impersonal sense, such as probleme se ponavljaju (the problems repeat/recure). A speaker can say: Ja ponavljam zadatke (I am repeating the tasks) or On ponavlja gradivo (He repeats the material).

A related but distinct verb is ponoviti, the perfective counterpart meaning to repeat once or to do something again in a completed sense. Both forms exist in education, rhetoric, and everyday speech. For example, gradivo se ponavlja kao dio pripreme za ispit (the material is repeated as part of exam preparation) and ponoviti nešto naglas (to repeat something aloud for emphasis).

Noun forms include ponavljanje (repetition, revision, or recap) and, less commonly, ponavljač in specialized contexts. The word is widely used across literature and media to describe the act of repeating or the phenomenon of recurrence, whether for memorization, emphasis, or cyclical events.