Sprijeiti

Sprijeiti is a verb used in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian with the meaning to prevent, avert, or hinder something from occurring. It is a transitive verb and, when used, requires a direct object indicating what is prevented (for example, a disease, damage, or unwanted event). The action is typically framed as proactive or preventative rather than merely delaying something.

In standard orthography, the infinitive is spriječiti. Sprijeiti exists as a variant spelling found in some dialects or older texts and is generally regarded as nonstandard in formal writing. Both forms share the same core meaning and usage, though spriječiti is the normative form in contemporary standard language.

Usage notes and nuance:

- Spriječiti is used for deliberate measures that stop a particular outcome from happening, often in contexts such as public health, safety, or risk management.

- The verb is perfective, signaling a completed preventive action. It is commonly used with measures, procedures, or policies that successfully avert harm: e.g., “Mjere su spriječile širenje bolesti.”

- It can be combined with nouns representing risks or threats: “spriječiti katastrofu,” “spriječiti gubitak.”

Conjugation and forms:

- As a perfective, spriječiti forms tenses and aspects through standard Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian conjugation patterns for -iti verbs. The infinitive is spriječiti (or the variant sprijeiti). Past forms include spriječio/spriječila/spriječilo, depending on gender. Present and future forms align with typical patterns of transitive perfective verbs.

See also: spriječiti, prevention, risk management.

Note: While sprijeiti appears in some texts, the normative form in standard language is spriječiti.