Listen carefully to this cartoon and try to guess what the following words mean:
1. oluja
2. munja
3. grom
4. idiom "ko me je vukao za jezik" ?
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What's the plural of
5. munja ?
6. grom ?

Thunder, lightning and one talkative idiom

Oluja is a storm, munja lightning and grom thunder. The plurals are oluje, munje and gromovi; the expanded masculine ending in gromovi is worth hearing as a complete word.

Ko me je vukao za jezik? literally asks who pulled my tongue, but means “Why did I have to say that?” or “Who made me speak?” It often follows an unfortunate revelation.

Five cartoon reactions to bad weather

LatinicaЋирилицаEnglish
Munja je osvetlila celo dvorište.Муња је осветлила цело двориште.Lightning lit up the entire yard.
Posle nekoliko sekundi začuo se snažan grom.После неколико секунди зачуо се снажан гром.A powerful clap of thunder was heard a few seconds later.
Junaci su se sakrili čim je počela oluja.Јунаци су се сакрили чим је почела олуја.The heroes hid as soon as the storm began.
Nisam hteo da otkrijem tajnu, ali vukli su me za jezik.Нисам хтео да откријем тајну, али вукли су ме за језик.I did not want to reveal the secret, but they drew me out.
Na nebu su se ukrstile dve blistave munje.На небу су се укрстиле две блиставе муње.Two brilliant bolts of lightning crossed in the sky.

Do not let the characters pull your tongue

Pause before the idiom and predict what secret the character may reveal. Afterwards, retell the consequence with zato što.

  1. Plural of munja?
  2. Plural of grom?
  3. Translate oluja.
  4. Write vukao me je za jezik in Cyrillic.
  5. Complete: Čuo se snažan ______.

The storm vocabulary settles

  1. munje
  2. gromovi
  3. storm
  4. вукао ме је за језик
  5. grom

Wait for the flash, then the sound: munja and grom are easier to separate when their real-world order guides the words.
Marina Petrović