Practise Serbian superlatives by evaluating photographs and explaining why one is the funniest, best or most surprising.
Practicing Superlatives - Advanced Serbian
It really makes my day when I come across an excellent video in Serbian with perfect pronunciation, along with subtitles. This is exactly what I want to share with you today! After watching this video you could choose only five photos out of ten to tell me which photo is the funniest, the most incredible, the stupidest, the best and the most interesting one!Speaking Exercise with Superlatives in Serbian
Dok gledate video odlučite koja fotografija je
- najsmešnija (smešan = funny)
- najneverovatnija (neverovatan = impossible)
- najgluplja (glup =stupid)
- najbolja (dobar = good)
- najinteresantnija (interesantan = interesting)
i ostavite (audio) odgovor u komentaru ispod:
Building comparatives and superlatives
The Serbian superlative is usually formed by adding naj- to the comparative: smešan, smešniji, najsmešniji. The prefix is written together with the adjective, including forms beginning with j, such as najjači. Adjectives still agree with the noun in gender, number and case. A strong advanced answer should include a reason introduced by zato što or jer.
The superlative in Serbian is built simply: take the comparative and add naj-. zanimljiv → zanimljiviji → najzanimljiviji. The difficulty is not the prefix but the comparative underneath it, where a handful of very common adjectives are irregular — dobar → bolji → najbolji is the one you will need most.
Superlative sentences in both scripts
| Latin script | Cyrillic script | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ova fotografija je najsmešnija. | Ова фотографија је најсмешнија. | This photograph is the funniest. |
| To je najzanimljiviji detalj. | То је најзанимљивији детаљ. | That is the most interesting detail. |
| Ona je izabrala najbolju sliku. | Она је изабрала најбољу слику. | She chose the best picture. |
| Ovo je najneobičnije pitanje. | Ово је најнеобичније питање. | This is the most unusual question. |
| Njihov odgovor je bio najpametniji. | Њихов одговор је био најпаметнији. | Their answer was the cleverest. |
Watch the agreement: the superlative still has to match its noun in gender, number and case, so najbolja slika but najbolji detalj. In Cyrillic the нај- prefix is immediately visible at the front of the word, which makes it easy to check that you have built the form correctly.
Comparing things you know
Pick a category from your own life — photographs, restaurants, films — and say three sentences: one positive, one comparative, one superlative. Then do it with a feminine noun and a neuter noun. Running the full ladder each time is what makes the irregular forms surface before you need them in conversation.
Superlative exercise
Translate these sentences into Serbian in both alphabets, giving the positive, comparative and superlative form of each adjective you use.
- This photograph is the funniest.
- That is the most interesting detail.
- She chose the best picture.
- This is the most unusual question.
- Their answer was the cleverest.
Answers
- Ova fotografija je najsmešnija.
Ова фотографија је најсмешнија. - To je najzanimljiviji detalj.
То је најзанимљивији детаљ. - Ona je izabrala najbolju sliku.
Она је изабрала најбољу слику. - Ovo je najneobičnije pitanje.
Ово је најнеобичније питање. - Njihov odgovor je bio najpametniji.
Њихов одговор је био најпаметнији.