A photograph captures one place, while od and do stretch the scene into a journey with a beginning and an end.

Odakle je ova lasta?
Where is this sparrow from?

Odakle leti ova lasta?
Where does this sparrow fly from?

Ona leti od Beograda do Londona.
It (she) flies / is flying from Belgrade to London. 

Ma neee, ona leti od Afrike do Evrope.
Nooo, it flies/ is flying  from AFrica to Europe.

Ova deca nemaju pojma!!!
These kids have no clue!!!

Ona leti od kuće do reke.
It flies/ is flying  from the house to the river.

It's really complicated. Does anyone know the answer? 


I think there is no correct answer, but we can enjoy learning Serbian by playing with this sentence using the Genitive case.

Genitive in Serbian


With the prepositions "from - to", you'll use the Genitive case. In the singular it changes as we have described before:

Singular
  • London - od LondonA Masc. Sg. adds an -A
  • Moskva - od MoskvE  Fem. Sg. changes an -a into -E
  • Selo - od selA Neut. Sg. changes an -o into -A

Practising Genitive in Serbian

Your task is to think about these places and give your own answer about the sparrow using the same form: 

Lasta leti od  ... do ...

  1. Lisabon - Budimpešta
  2. Madrid - Atina
  3. Kopenhagen - Ankara
  4. Zagreb - Ljubljana
  5. Boston - Peking
  6. Moskva - Oslo
  7. Lima - Kairo
  8. Čikago - Berlin
  9. Subotica - Niš
  10. Temišvar - Bratislava
Photo Serbian with Gavrilo

If you are wondering who took this wonderful photo of a sparrow, OR "Od koga je ova slika?", let me tell you that the author is Gavrilo! 

He has been my dear friend since forever and he has allowed me to use his beautiful photos in my photo lessons of Serbian. He is doing a great job promoting Serbia and its beauties and I invite all of you to thank him on his Pixoto page by liking and leaving comments under his photos :) Хвала Гојко! 




od and do with places in a photo

The genitive appears after many prepositions, in possession and after expressions of quantity. Instead of memorising one ending in isolation, group examples by gender and number and ask what relationship the form is expressing. In this particular lesson, use that principle to interpret the examples connected with Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4.

Model sentences for describing a route

Latin scriptCyrillic scriptEnglish
Od kuće do škole ima deset minuta.Од куће до школе има десет минута.It is ten minutes from home to school.
Idemo od parka do reke.Идемо од парка до реке.We are going from the park to the river.
Autobus vozi od stanice do centra.Аутобус вози од станице до центра.The bus goes from the station to the centre.
Od jutra do mraka pada kiša.Од јутра до мрака пада киша.It rains from morning until dark.
Trčim od mosta do mosta.Трчим од моста до моста.I run from one bridge to the other.

Use the script pair as a reading workout: Latin first, Cyrillic second, then reverse the order. The Serbian message does not change, and neither should the pronunciation. Apply that script strategy to the vocabulary in Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4.

od X do Y

Instead of memorising disconnected words from Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4, collect a compact pattern you can reuse. Keep the stable part, replace one meaningful detail and listen to how the Serbian ending changes.

Describe a route you take often

Select the sentence closest to your life and make it true for you. Add a reason or time expression, ask another person a related question, and answer it without reading. For this post, keep your final version connected with the situation in Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4.

Check your Serbian: Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4

Complete this final recall check without copying the table. Write both Serbian scripts, then compare your forms carefully with the solutions. Keep every answer connected with Photo Serbian - From To Genitive 4.

  1. A bus is waiting in front of the school.
  2. After class I am going home.
  3. During the summer we study outside.
  4. There are many interesting examples.
  5. I am returning from Serbian class.

Answers for genitive four

  1. Ispred škole čeka autobus.
    Испред школе чека аутобус.
  2. Posle časa idem kući.
    После часа идем кући.
  3. Tokom leta učimo napolju.
    Током лета учимо напољу.
  4. Ima mnogo zanimljivih primera.
    Има много занимљивих примера.
  5. Vraćam se sa časa srpskog.
    Враћам се са часа српског.