voleti

Voleti, sometimes written voljeti in some varieties, is a verb in South Slavic languages meaning to love or to care for someone with affection. It is used in contexts from romantic love to familial affection and strong liking. The infinitive is commonly found as voleti or voljeti, with spelling variations across dialects and standards in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.

In the present tense, the standard forms are volim, voliš, voli, volimo, volite, vole. The exact endings follow the common first-conjugation pattern found in these languages. The past tense is formed with the auxiliary verb to be (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) plus the past participle, which agrees in gender and number: volio (masc. sing.), voljela (fem. sing.), voljeli (masc. plural), voljele (fem./neut. plural). For example, “Volio sam te” means I loved you. The future tense is built with the auxiliary akan be plus the infinitive: ja ću voljeti (or voleti), ti ćeš voljeti, on/ona/ono će voljeti, mi ćemo voljeti, vi ćete voljeti, oni će voljeti.

Usage notes indicate that voleti expresses a range of intensities from strong affection to deep liking, depending on context. In some dialects or styles, voleti and voljeti are interchangeable; in others, one form may be preferred. Related verbs include terms for affection and kissing in nearby languages, but voleti specifically centers on love or strong liking, rather than the act of kissing itself.

See also: love in Slavic languages; conjugation patterns in Serbo-Croatian dialects.