Learn Serbian

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Describing People in Serbian - Part 2

Marina describing people , Serbian language 365

If you liked the first part about how to describe people's age in Serbian, I'm sure you'll enjoy practising following features with the people & places video below:

age (godište)
clothes (odeća)

height and build (visina i građa):

... je prosečne visine = ... is average height.
... je visok = ... is tall.
... je nizak = ... is short.
... je debeo / punačak =... is fat / overweight
... je mršav = ... is thin
... je vitak = ... is slim

hair (kosa):

duga kosa: ... ima dugu kosu = ...has long hair
kratka kosa: ... ima kratku kosu = ... has short hair
kosa srednje dužine ... ima kosu srednje dužine = ... has medium-length hair
crna kosa ... ima crnu kosu = ...has dark hair
plava kosa ... ima plavu kosu = ... has fair hair
crvena kosa ... ima crvenu kosu = ... has red/ginger hair
(svetlo / tamno) smeđa kosa ... ima (svetlo /tamno ) smeđu kosu = ... has (light / dark) brown hair
seda kosa ... ima sedu kosu = ... has gray hair
kovrdžava kosa ... ima kovrdžavu kosu = ... has curly hair
talasasta kosa ... ima talasastu kosu = ... has wavy hair
ravna kosa ... ima ravnu kosu = ... has straight hair
... je ćelav = ... is bald
... je proćelav ... has a receding hairline.
...ima šiške (pluralia tantum) = ... has a fringe (in Serbian this word is always in plural, like "vrata"=door)
...nosi pletenice = ... is wearing her hair in plaits
...nosi kikice = ... is wearing her hair in pig-tails
...nosi rep = ... is wearing her hair in a pony-tail
...nosi puštenu kosu = ...is wearing her hair loose
...nosi razdeljak (na stranu / u sredini) = ... has a (side / centre) parting

complexion (ten)

...ima taman ten = ...has a dark complexion
...ima svetlu put =...has a fair complexion
... je bled = ...is pale
... se sunčao = ... has a tanned complexion
...ima lep ten = ... has a clear /good complexion
...ima bubuljice /pege =...has spots / freckles.

distinguishing features (karakteristične crte)

...ima bradu = ...has a beard
...ima brkove = ... has a moustache
...je izbrijan =...is clean-shaven
...ima ožiljak = ...has a scar
...ima tetovažu = ... has a tattoo
...ima guste obrve = ... has bushy eyebrows
...nosi naočare = ...wears glasses

European Day of Languages in Serbian

Marina day of European languages , Serbian language 365

Many thanks to all the faithful followers of this blog for celebrating European Day of Languages every day :) I'm not a big fun of one-day praznik-a, but let me share with you some great resources for learning Serbian which cover this topic:

Proslavite Evropski dan jezika - Serbian version flyer
Celebrate the European Day of Languages - English version (check for flyers in other languages)
An RTV Article
Today's video about this topic:

An excellent 2012 video on this topic:

Can you watch it several times, if necessary, and jot down at least three reasons why learning different languages is important, according to the interviewees ?

Word Order in Serbian - Negation in Present, Part 1.3

Marina Serbian language 365 , Word order in Serbian

If you are following the Word Order in Serbian series of blog posts, you surely remember that the first one was about simple verbs (not -se verbs) in the Present Simple tense. This time, I'll cover the same set of sentences in the same tense, but with their negative forms:

One word verb: NE pevati (not sing)Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Ne pevam. N
Ja ne pevam.
Ti igraš, a ja ne pevam. N
Ti ne igraš i ja ne pevam. N
Profesor je čuo kako ne pevam i dao mi je jedinicu ! N
Priznajem da ne znam da pevam. N

S + P + direct object (dO)

Ne pevam pesmu. N
Ja ne pevam pesmu.
Vidiš li da ne pevam tu pesmu ? N
Svi čuju da ja ne pevam pesmu.

S + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan. N
Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu.
Moji profesori svaki dan vide kada ne uradim domaći. N

S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)

Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan kod kuće. N
Ne pevam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
Kod kuće obično ne pevam pesmu. N
Moje komšije ponekad ne čuju kada kod kuće pevam pesmu. N
Moje komšije obično ne čuju kada pevam pesmu kod kuće. N

Moje komšije ne igraju uz iks-boks dok ja pevam pesme kod kuće svaki dan. N

I admit that this was pretty boring, but it's good to have lots of similar examples in one place :) I promise the next part with questions, short answers and negations will be real fun !

Learn about Serbian Verbs with Children's Songs

Marina Serbian for children , Serbian for kids

Another great song which all the devojčice i dečaci sing is "Ivin voz" by Dragan Laković . It's also perfect to introduce a complex lexical system of the Serbian verb (which mirrors English phrasal verbs as well as perfectve /imperfective aspects ) :

The Cyrillic script version:
Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

Из куће је излетео на улицу Ива
сав задихан захуктао к'о локомотива.

Видели га другови, па за њим и они
потрчали, захуктали к'о прави вагони.

Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

Сад улицом тако јури та чудна колона
то воз Ивин путује са седам вагона.

The Latin script version:
Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

Iz kuće je izleteo na ulicu Iva
sav zadihan zahuktao k'o lokomotiva.

Videli ga drugovi, pa za njim i oni
potrčali, zahuktali k'o pravi vagoni.

Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

Sad ulicom tako juri ta čudna kolona
to voz Ivin putuje sa sedam vagona.

Interesting verb lexicology:

leteti = to fly, IZleteti = to fly out of
huktati = to make a sound like a to train (figuratively: to complain) , ZAhuktati se = to gather speed (for a train, or when doing something)
trčati = to run, POtrčati = to start running

An exercise covering this topic can be found on this SerbianLesson.com page.

Describing People in Serbian - Age

Marina describing people , Serbian language 365

In part one of this short series of blog posts on how to describe a person in Serbian, I'll cover just how to describe someone's age, and give you lots of sample sentences, so you can try to describe people in the photo below, focusing on their age ( and a little bit on clothes ):

Godište = Age

beba = baby
dete = child
dete koje je tek prohodalo = toddler
dečko = boy
devojčica = girl
tinejdžer = teenager
mladić = young man (short "a")
devojka = young woman
omladina = youth
čovek u zrelim godinama = middle-aged man
žena u zrelim godinama = middle-aged woman
stariji čovek / žena = elderly man/ woman
... ima dvadeset pet godina =... is 25
...ima tridesetak godina = ... is thirty something
...ima oko četrdeset godina = ... is about forty
...ima pedeset i kusur = ... is fifty odd.
... je u (svojim) ranim / kasnim dvadesetim = ... is in (her /his) early / late twenties

Primeri = Examples

Na ovoj slici vidim puno ljudi koji su različitog godišta. S desne strane vidim devojčicu u ružičastoj suknji i majici, a pored nje je srednjovečni čovek sa kapom. Ispred njih sedi žena plave kose i proćelavi muškarac, koji deluju kao par u zrelim godinama. Pored njih, s leve strane su dve žene u kasnim dvadesetim. Jedna ima belu majicu bez rukava i crne bermude, a druga nosi ljubičastu majicu bez rukava i plave pantalone. Iza njih s leve strane sedi žena u crvenoj majici kratkih rukava koja ima pedesetak godina i iza nje je verovatno njen suprug, koji je isto stariji čovek. Pored nje sedi dečko koji ima oko devet ili deset godina. Oni su na nekom slavlju ili događaju i uglavnom su tu deca ili ljudi u zrelim godinama. Ne vidim uopšte tinejdžere.

Best Sites for Learning Serbian

Marina Serbian language 365 , sites for learning Serbian

In order to persevere with learning the Serbian language you have to be proactive in finding fun and quality material on the internet. In the morning you can work on more demanding materials, such as :

Short news
Weather Forecast in Serbian
For women (choose the topic you like and try to figure out what it is about :)
For men Short Sports News
Films
Serbian lessons and exercises
Recepti = recipes

and in the evenings always flick through some easy, fun and relaxing stuff :

Vukajlija = fun vocabulary definitions(urban dictionary) with photos
Vicevi po temama = jokes divided in topics
FaceBook Grupa: Nostalgija
Demotivacija - slike sa kratkim tekstom = photos with short text
Njuz - vesti u ogledalu = (more advanced students - fun texts )
Kupindo - check out the second-hand things you can buy and how much they cost

The Meaning of the Verb "slagati se " in Serbian

Marina reflexive verbs in Serbian , Serbian language 365

Slažu se kao pas i mačka :)

The verb "slagati se" imperf.(with first "a" being long) /"složiti se" perf. = to agree * can have a range of different meanings in Serbian and we're going to discuss them today, because I'll need it for my next lesson about Serbian history.

If two colours match, we say "slažu se". For example: Plava se slaže sa žutom, ali se ne slaže sa crvenom (slagati se = to match)
If a brother and sister get on/along with each other, we say "oni se slažu". For example: Baš imaš sreće, tvoj brat i ti se dobro slažete. (You are rally lucky, your brother and you get along very well)
If you agree to go out with your friend, you will say: "slažem se". For example: Hoćeš li da idemo u restoran večeras ? Važi, slažem se! (Would you like to go to a restaurant tonight ? OK, I agree!)
If two people are at each other's throats, i.e." fight like cat(s) and dog(s)" you can similarly describe it in Serbian as "slažu se kao pas i mačka"!

The simple present tense conjugations of the verb SLAGATI:

(Sg) Slažem se - slažeš se - slaže se (Pl) Slažemo se - slažete se - slažu se

The past tense verb forms

- Imperfective aspect:

( _ denotes the auxiliary "to be" which shows which person is the sentence referring to)

(Sg) M slagao _ se, F slagala _ se, N slagalo _ se

(Pl) M slagali _ se , F slagale _ se, N slagala _ se

- Perfective aspect:

( _ denotes the auxiliary "to be" which shows which person is the sentence referring to)

(Sg) M složio _ se, F složila _ se, N složilo _ se

(Pl) M složili _ se , F složile _ se, N složila _ se

The simple future forms:

- Imperfective aspect:

(Sg) Slagaću se - slagaćeš se - slagaće se

(Pl) Slagaćemo se - slagaćete se - slagaće se

- Perfective aspect:

(Sg) Složiću se - složićeš se - složiće se

(Pl) Složićemo se - složićeš se - složiće se

* You might also find the word "slagati" which means "to lie", but the stress pattern is different (with the first "a" being short) and there is no reflexive " se".

** You might also find the word "slagati" with the same stress pattern as "slagati se" (to agree), but without the reflexive "se". In that case, the verb "slagati" means "to stack things" or " to put things in order"

Google Tag Head

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Describing People in Serbian - Part 2

Thursday, September 26, 2013

European Day of Languages in Serbian

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Word Order in Serbian - Negation in Present, Part 1.3

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Learn about Serbian Verbs with Children's Songs

Monday, September 23, 2013

Describing People in Serbian - Age

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Best Sites for Learning Serbian

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Meaning of the Verb "slagati se " in Serbian

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

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Sunday, September 29, 2013

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Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

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Serbian for Children

Coloring Book in Serbian

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