prodavati

Prodavati is a verb in the South Slavic languages Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin meaning to sell. It is transitive and typically governs a direct object in the accusative, as in "prodajem knjige" (I am selling books) or "on prodaje voće" (he sells fruit). The word is imperfective, describing an ongoing or repeated action; its perfective counterpart is "prodati" (to sell, to dispose of once).

In present tense, the forms are ja prodajem, ti prodaješ, on prodaje, mi prodajemo, vi prodajete, oni prodaju. Past imperfective forms include "prodavao" (m) / "prodavala" (f) / "prodavalo" (n); perfective past forms derive from the short root, e.g., "prodao" / "prodala" / "prodalo" depending on gender. The future is expressed either by the imperfective future with auxiliary -ću/-ćeš/-će plus the infinitive form "prodavati" or by the perfective form used as a simple future, depending on dialect.

Etymologically, prodavati originates from Slavic roots related to sale; cognates appear across Slavic languages, including Russian продавать (prodavat') and Polish sprzedawać. The related noun "prodaja" means sale and is derived from the same root.

Usage notes: the verb is common in everyday commerce and advertising, including "prodavati na internetu" (to sell online) and "prodavati na crno" (to sell on the black market). Related terms include "prodavač" (seller) and "prodavnica" (store).