djelovao

Djelovao is the masculine past tense form of the South Slavic verb djelovati, which means to act, to operate, or to function. The infinitive is djelovati. The form is common in Croatian and Bosnian, and is understood in Serbian contexts as well, with cognate forms appearing in related varieties.

In grammar, the past tense forms agree with the subject: masculine djelovao, feminine djelovala, neuter djelovalo. The present tense forms include djelujem (I act), djeluješ (you act), djeluje (he/she/it acts), djelujemo, djelujete, djeluju. Djelovao is thus used to describe actions completed in the past by a male subject.

Usage examples illustrate its range. On je djelovao kao svjedok. (He acted as a witness.) Sistem je djelovao bez problema. (The system operated without problems.) To je djelovalo čudno. (That seemed odd or that acted strangely.)

Etymology and variants: djelovati is formed with the common Slavic infinitive suffix -ovati on the root djel-, related to the broader idea of acting or doing. In standard Croatian and Bosnian, the masculine past is djelovao; in some dialects or in Serbian, cognate forms such as delovao may occur due to phonetic variation.

Related terms include djelovanje (the act or operation), djelatnost (activity), and djelatnik (worker).