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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Intermediate Serbian - Verb Aspect, lesson 3

Before we continue with the video lessons focusing on aspect differences, let's be impratctical and  talk only about the grammar today:

As you probably noticed in the previous post for the intermediate level, one can turn an imperfective verb into a perfective one by adding a prefix (buditi - probuditi ,  razbuditi ). But this is not the only way to change an aspect of a verb. You can also:

  • add a prefix to the verb and it becomes perfective 
  • add a suffix to the verb and it becomes perfective (dremati - dremNUti)
  • alter the stem (odmoriti - odmarati, which I explained in the previous post)
But, we have to be cautious with the process of prefixation ! Quite often the meaning of the verb does not bear only the difference in aspect ( whether the action is complete or incomplete: "I wrote" - "I was writing" : Napisao sam = Pisao sam). It more frequently bears a new layer of meaning,  like the ones mentioned in "buditi" becoming perfective in "probuditi" or "razbuditi", so we need to  use phrasal verbs in English to accurately convey the additional meaning.

Let me give you a few examples of:
  • clear-cut distinction pefective-imperfective (without any additonal meanings):
  1. pisati - napisati (to be writing - to have written/wrote)
  2. čitati - pročitati (to be reading - to have read/ read )
  • the prefix adding new meanings :
  1. igrati - odigrati / izigrati / zaigrati  (to be playing - to have played / to play up / to play upon* these translations are incomplete and need to be read in  the sentences, which will be the aim of our future lessons at this level )
  2. pisati -  prepisati (to copy) / zapisati (to jot down) / upisati (to enroll)
Until the next lesson, do practise the aspect in Serbian by doing some fun exercises published in the previous posts:

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Serbian Language Day 16 - Pre-intermediate Course, Lesson 3

Before moving onto the third lesson for the pre-intermediate level of Serbian, you can always flick through the previous blog posts:
In today's lesson you can revise your knowledge of the Locative case, but this time with the verb "živeti" = to live and "govoriti" = to speak (a language) + adjectives describing languages &  nouns for countries:

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

365 Days of Serbian Language - Beginner Lesson 3

If you practised the verb TO BE in the Serbian in my previous lessons,  I'm sure this will be an easy task for you:
  1. Mute this video before watching it and try to give / write the correct answers for each button. 
  2. You can write down the answers and then watch the video again and listen to Jeremija giving his responses. 
  3. Has he made any mistakes and if he has, correct the wrong answers (you can write the replies in the comment)


*This is also a smooth intro to the lesson on numbers in Serbian.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Learn Serbian Language 365 Days by Watching Youtube

I'm sure you enjoyed my last post about Poletarac ! Bilo je zabavno, zar ne ? Today, I'd like to remind you of four great interviews with foreigners living in Serbia, which I posted last year:
They share their view of many different aspects of life and I'm sure you'll enjoy watching them, as well as  doing some extra exercises and video lessons:

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Serbian Language 365 - Phrases for Giving Directions

About two years ago I was tinkering with the free version of Camtasia for a month. The result was one part of the Serbian phrase course, covering three topics, both in the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic script. Now when I look back on my early works, I'm quite disappointed and I recon it's high time I made  much clearer video lessons with better background music and wide scope of topics. I bet you agree :)

In the meantime, I'm sure you'll find these two videos covering "Giving directions in Serbian" useful. 

Serbian Phrases free e-book
Places in the city in the Cyrillic script:

Giving directions in the Latin alphabet:

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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