govori

Govori is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb govoriti in several South Slavic languages, meaning to speak. The word is closely related to the noun govor, which denotes speech or the act of speaking. As a common verb form, govori appears in Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Slovenian, among others.

In these languages, govori is used to describe someone actively speaking or having the ability to speak a language. For example, in Croatian you can say "On govori engleski" to mean "He speaks English." In Bosnian or Serbian, a similar sentence like "On govori bosanski" conveys the same meaning. In Slovenian, one might say "Ona govori slovensko" to mean "She speaks Slovenian." The form is typically used with a subject and may be complemented by a direct object or language name.

Usage notes: Govori is a grammatical form rather than a standalone lexical item in English, and its exact spelling and capitalization follow the rules of each language. It is part of a broader verbal paradigm that includes other tenses (e.g., past and future) and person-number forms. The root is shared with related terms such as govoriti (to speak) and govor (speech) across the languages, reflecting the common Slavic heritage of the vocabulary around speaking and language.

See also: govoriti, govor, language-related terms in Slavic languages.