postavlja

Postavlja is a verb form found in several South Slavic languages, notably Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian. It represents the third-person singular present tense of the imperfective verb postavljati, meaning "to place" or "to set up" in an ongoing or repeated action. The corresponding perfective form is postaviti, whose third-person singular present is postavi. Thus, postavlja describes actions like placing something in a position or setting up a system as a continuous or habitual activity, while postavi refers to a single, completed installation.

Etymology and grammar: postavljati comes from the root stav- meaning “to put” with the prefix po- and the iterative suffix -avljati, forming an imperfective meaning of performing the action repeatedly or habitually. This distinguishes it from the perfective postaviti, which emphasizes the completion of the action. In standard usage, person and number align with other present-tense verbs: ja postavljam, ti postavljaš, on/ona/ono postavlja, mi postavljamo, vi postavljate, oni postavljaju.

Usage and examples: postavlja is versatile and appears in both concrete and abstract contexts. Examples include placing physical objects, such as “On postavlja policu na zid” (He is installing a shelf on the wall), and more figurative uses like “Ona postavlja pitanje na sastanku” (She poses a question at the meeting). The phrase “postavlja se pitanje” is a common idiom meaning “the question arises” or “a question is being raised.”

See also: postaviti, postavljati, staviti.