Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Čika Jova Zmaj - Тихо Ноћи

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pronunciation of sounds ш (š), љ (lj), ж (ž)

Кашика, виљушка, нож.
Иде брзи воз.

У возу се возе: кашика, виљушка, нож.


Kašika, viljuška, nož.
Ide brzi voz.
U vozu se voze: kašika, viljuška, nož.



Monday, November 17, 2008

Asking Yes/No questions in Serbian

If you want to ask Yes/No questions in Serbian always start with 'DA LI', no matter what tense. For the Present Tense keep this word order :
  • Da li (+Subject if it is necessary, or cannot be inferred from the conjugation) + Verb ... Example: Da li Ivan živi u Novom Sadu? Da li živimo u Novom Sadu?
  • Da li + Verb TO BE  (+ S ) Example: Da li si u Parizu? Da li si ti Ivan? 
  • Da li + se  (+ S) + Verb  in case of verbs with reflexive pronoun 'se' ... Example: Da li se on zove Ivan? Da li se budiš u pet ili u šest?

Let me add the word order commonly used in colloquial speech:



  • Živi li Ivan u Novom Sadu ? - Verb + li + (S)
  • Jesi li u Parizu ? - To be (only the full forms: jesam/jesi/jeste/jesmo/jeste/jesu) + li + (S) ...
  • Zoveš li se Ivan ? - Verb + li + se + (S)  / Jel' + se +(S) + Verb


Exercise: Make 6 Yes/No questions about Ivan. The answers are in the first comment, because Ivan doesn't feel like recording his own voice right now :o(

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A story about Ivan


Priča o Ivanu


Ovo je Ivan. On živi u Novom Sadu. Njegova omiljena boja je plava. On ima stariju sestru. On obožava da se igra na kompjuteru. On ima puno igračaka.

Instructions: turn this story into first person Singular - starting with 'Zovem se Ivan/ Ja sam Ivan...'

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Locative in Serbian

Lokativ

Lokativ ____ (is) padež koji ide uz predloge 'na', 'u', 'o', 'po', 'pri'. On označava mesto ____ ( where) se vrši radnja ili gde se nešto nalazi. Zato se i ______ (named) padežom mesta. Latinski 'locus' ______ (means) mesto. Evo nekoliko primera ______ (with) predlogom 'U':

Ljudi žive u Beograd__ , u Kruševc__, u Brisel__ ili na sel_. Kada ____ (are) imenice muškog i srednjeg roda u jednini, onda se doda nastavak 'U'. Ljudi žive i u Srbij___, Belgij__, Italij__ - ali pošto su ovo imenice ženskog roda u jednini, one gube poslednje 'a', i dodaje im se nastavak 'I'.

Lokativ se _________ (also) koristi i da iskažemo o kome pričamo, i tada se koristi _______ (with) predlog "o". Juče sam pričala o prijatelj___, muškarcim_, drugaric__ i odel___- u množini lokativ zahteva sledeće nastavke -ima, za muški rod, -ama i srednji -ima!

*********** Translation & Answers*******************

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

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
Photo book