Study Serbian via Youtube

You can study Serbian by simply watching YouTube channels. With a new tool I recently discovered, I'll be adding annotations to a certain part of the video, in its basic form, and you can use it when learning or teaching Serbian. For example:

Transkript / Transcript

• 0:37  + zgrada
• 0:42  Skupština
• 0:47  +ulica
• 0:55  + kafić
• 1:03  + Centar Sava
• 1:13  + golub
• 1:16  + golub
• 1:23  + karneval
• 1:33  + Kalemegdan
• 1:37  + crkva
• 1:43  + most
• 1:47  + hipodrom
• 1:55  + Terazije
• 1:57  + Beograđanka
• 2:00  + maraton
• 2:07  + reka Sava / Dunav
• 2:15  kraj

When you see "+ulica", make one of the following sentences:

1. Želeo / želela bih da vidim + mesto (= place, but in Accusative)
2. Hoću da vidim / posetim (visit) + mesto in Accusative
3. Interesuje me + mesto in Nominative (use plural with common nouns)
4. Sviđa / sviđaju mi se + mesto in Nominative (sviđa + Sg. or sviđaju + Pl.)

The first example:
1. Želela bih da vidim zgrade (u Beogradu).
2. Želela bih da posetim Skupštinu (u Beogradu).
3. Interesuje me da vidim Sava centar (u Beogradu).
4. Sviđaju mi se ulice (u Beogradu).

Belgrade passes the window one noun at a time

Treat every annotation as raw material rather than a translation. After zgrada, ulica or most appears, decide what you want to say: a wish to see something, a plan to visit it, an interest, or an opinion. That choice determines both the verb and the form of the place name.

Videti and posetiti take the accusative, so feminine nouns in -a usually change to -u: posetiti Skupštinu, videti Beograđanku. By contrast, the place liked with sviđati se behaves as the grammatical subject: Sviđaju mi se ulice. The verb is plural because ulice is plural.

Four sentence frames lead to two cases

Latinica	Ћирилица	English
Voleo bih da fotografišem Beograđanku pred zalazak sunca.	Волео бих да фотографишем Београђанку пред залазак сунца.	I would like to photograph the Beograđanka building before sunset.
Turistkinja hoće da pređe Brankov most peške.	Туристкиња хоће да пређе Бранков мост пешке.	The tourist wants to cross Branko’s Bridge on foot.
Mene zanimaju golubovi okupljeni kod stare crkve.	Мене занимају голубови окупљени код старе цркве.	I am interested in the pigeons gathered near the old church.
Sviđa nam se pogled sa Kalemegdana na dve reke.	Свиђа нам се поглед са Калемегдана на две реке.	We like the view from Kalemegdan over the two rivers.
Oni žele da posete hipodrom tokom velike trke.	Они желе да посете хиподром током велике трке.	They want to visit the racecourse during a major race.

Replay the city sequence without pausing and name every landmark you recognise. Then select one place and tell a visitor why it deserves a longer stop.
Marina Petrović