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Sunday, November 02, 2008

Case suffixes in Serbian

One of the most difficult features of the Serbian language are declensions, i.e. different suffixes which words such as nouns, pronouns, adjectives take in different cases. Let me add all of them in one place, while in the following posts you will be able to focus on practicing these cases, one by one and in a more fun way!

Singular Cases Suffixes in Serbian 

Case name:Answers question:Used to describe:Suffixes (I tried describing just the majority of case endings, general rule, not the exceptions and specific ones)
NominativeKO?
ŠTA?

Who? What?
Usually the subject of a sentence and predicative- Masc. most often ends in a consonant
- Fem. most often ends in A
- Neut. most often ends in -E or -O
Genitive KOGA?ČEGA?

Of who? Of what?
Possession, belonging, a part of something- Masc. nouns take an - A ending
- Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -E ending
- Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - A ending (while some nouns in animate category add an infix T, so you get deteTA, pileTA)
DativeKOME?ČEMU?

To whom? To what?
The noun to which/ whom something is given, shown, etc.- Masc. nouns take an - U ending
- Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -i ending
- Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - U ending
AccusativeKOGA? ŠTA?

Whom? What?
Usually the object of a sentence- Masc. nouns describing inanimate concepts don't change while nouns in animate category (person / animal / plant) take an - A ending, the same as the genitive case
- Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -U ending
- Neut.  nouns describing inanimate concepts don't change, regardless of the category (animate/inanimate) 
VocativeHEJ! Calling someone or in poems referring to something or some placeUsed to address somebody or something- Masc. nouns ending in a consonant take an - E ending, the ones ending in an -a drop the final -a and take an -O suffix, otherwise they don't change (examples: Dejvid - Dejvide! Pera - Pero! Mirko - Mirko! )
- Fem. nouns  of the foreign origin don't change in the locative, while the two and more syllable ones drop the final -a and take an -O ending, while names ending in -CA drop the final A and take an -E  (Marina! Kim! Nada - Nado! Ljubica - Ljubice!)
- Neut. nouns don't change 
InstrumentalS KIM?
ČIM?

Using, with, whom? Using, with, what?
Company (with preposition s) or utilization of something or someone to accomplish an action- Masc. nouns take an - OM ending
- Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -OM ending
- Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - OM ending
>>> for all genders, after some "soft" sounds you will have an ending -EM (mužEM, tušEM...)
LocativeGDE?
O KOME? O ČEMU?

Where? About whom?
Location, Relation(It's good to know that the locative = dative in form)
- Masc. nouns take an - U ending
- Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -i ending
- Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - U ending

Plural Cases Suffixes in Serbian ... coming soon

Exercise with Case Suffixes in Serbian


Draga Anna,

Hvala ti za predivnu idej__ kako da vodim ovaj blog. Trudiću se da redovno objavljujem kratke prič__ ili postov__ , bez nastavak__ za padež___, a rešenj___ ćeš moći da pročitaš u audio fajl__ na vrhu___ svak___ post___. U početk___ ću pisati lakše tekst___ , pa sve teže i teže. Možeš mi i dojaviti šta ti se sviđa, a šta ne u komentar___.
Pošto svakodnevno izmišljam test____ za učenik___ englesk___, neće mi biti teško da to radim i za srpsk___ . Nadam se da ćeš uživati, kao i ostali vredni učenic__ koji nalete na ovaj blog.
Do sledećeg javljanj___ sve najbolje i puno pozdrav___
od Marin___

 ps. the answer key is in comments

Friday, October 31, 2008

Questions in Serbian

KO? - who?
ŠTA? - what?
KADA? - when?
GDE? - where?
KAKO? - how?
KOLIKO? - how much/many?
ZAŠTO ? - why?
ZBOG ČEGA ? - what for?
S KIM? - who with?
KOME? - who to?


Question words in Serbian (mp3)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Myngle wins!

from MYNGLE blog

It is with great excitement that I inform you that yesterday we won the Accenture Innovation Award!

Amongst 230 companies that applied, Myngle was first selected as one the top 5 that would present the concept in front of a jury panel from broader media, consulting, investment world. Quite exciting!
As founder of Myngle, I recorded a short 1 minute pitch, which was showed already in a posting below, and a longer one, which was shown during the conference, you can watch it here too:

During the pitch, I thought I had to be myself, and tell the real reasons that had brought me to start Myngle. It is not only about business, but also about some idealistic little voice inside me that sometimes speaks somewhat harder; something that made me believe that there are possibilities within our capacity that can really make a difference. I had a dream… that was Myngle J


you can continue reading here

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Week Days in Serbian

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

How do I say my name and address in Serbian

Name and address in Serbian

Let's start with vocabulary covering the most essential phrases:

LIČNI PODACI = personal data

IME = first name
PREZIME = surname
DEVOJAČKO PREZIME = maiden name
LIČNA KARTA = identity card
PASOŠ = passport
MESTO ROĐENJA = place of birth
DATUM ROĐENJA = date of birth
STALNA ADRESA = permanent address
POŠTANSKA ADRESA = postal address
OŽENJEN = married (for men)
NEOŽENJEN = single (for men)
UDATA = married (for women)
NEUDATA = single (for women)
RAZVEDEN = divorced (for men)
RAZVEDENA = divorced (for women)
UDOVAC = widower
UDOVICA = widow
POL = sex
MALE = muški
FEMALE = ženski

How do I say my name and address in Serbian?

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
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