pozivati

Pozivati is a verb found in the South Slavic languages, notably Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin. It is the imperfective form meaning to call in the sense of inviting someone, summoning or appealing, often used for repeated or ongoing actions. Its perfective counterpart is pozvati, which denotes a single, completed act such as inviting someone once or calling someone to come.

Etymology and meaning. The verb is formed with the prefix po- added to zvati, the base meaning “to call.” Pozivati covers inviting someone to an event, requesting someone to do something, or calling upon someone to take a particular action. In some contexts it can also extend to invoking or appealing to people or groups.

Usage and constructions. Pozivati is used with a direct object referring to the person being invited or called, and with a prepositional phrase indicating the occasion, e.g., pozivati nekoga na nešto (invite someone to something) or pozivati nekoga da učini nešto (invite someone to do something). The sentence can express repetition or general invitation, and it can appear in various tenses, depending on aspect.

Conjugation and aspect. As an imperfective verb, pozivati denotes ongoing or habitual invitation. The present tense forms typically appear as: ja pozivam, ti pozivaš, on/ona poziva, mi pozivamo, vi pozivate, oni pozivaju. In the past, forms are pozivao/pozivala/pozivalo (with appropriate auxiliary like sam/smo) to indicate a completed action in a given gender. The perfective pozvati expresses a single invitation: ja pozvao/pozvala/pozvalo sam, etc. Future forms align with standard periphrastic or simple future patterns for imperfective and perfective aspects, respectively.

Noun and related terms. The noun poziv means an invitation or a call, and pozivanje refers to the act of inviting or calling. The verb and noun share the same semantic field, covering social invitations, official summons, and rhetorical appeals.