postupati

Postupati is a verb used in several South Slavic languages, notably Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Slovenian. It generally means to act, to proceed, or to take action, and it can express either an ongoing process or a completed action depending on aspect.

In Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian, postupati is the imperfective form meaning to act or proceed in a ongoing or habitual sense; its perfective counterpart is postupiti, used to describe a single, completed action. In Slovenian, the verb carries similar meanings and is often used in formal or procedural contexts to indicate taking action or moving forward with a course of steps.

Etymology: the word is built with the prefix po- attached to a root associated with proceeding or doing; it is historically connected to the noun postup, meaning procedure or process. The pair postupovati/postupiti is common across many South Slavic varieties and reflects a shared aspectual distinction, with imperfective vs. perfective usage.

Usage: common collocations include postupati prema pravilima (to act in accordance with the rules), postupiti po uputama (to follow the instructions), and postupovati na temelju dokaza (to proceed on the basis of evidence). The choice of imperfective versus perfective forms governs whether the emphasis is on the ongoing process or on a single, completed act.

See also: postup, postupak, postupiti, act, proceed, Slavic verbs, Serbo-Croatian grammar.