A short Serbian story can contain an entire world when each sentence moves the action forward without unnecessary difficulty.

Today we are practising Serbian with this simple exercise:

 The meaning of this story is as follows:

Marina likes to eat sweets, especially chocolate, Eurocream, jam and buiscits. She likes to drink milk, juice and coffee. Each morning while she has breakfast, Marina doesn't watch TV, but she is on the Internet, listens to songs on YouTube and sings them.

The missing verbs are as follows:

  1. VOLETI (ja volim ... oni vole)
  2. PITI (ja pijem... oni piju)
  3. GLEDATI (ja gledam ... oni gledaju)
  4. SLUŠATI (ja slušam... oni slušaju)
  5. PEVATI (ja pevam... oni pevaju)

After doing this exercise, you can record your own story by making comparisons. For example:

Marina voli da jede slatkiše, ali ja ne volim da jedem slatkiše. OR Marina voli da jede Eurokrem, ali ja ne volim da ga jedem. (Pronouns: him/it >>>"ga" stands for "it", but in Serbian "Eurocream" is he, so here "ga" means "him", her >>>"je" and "them"= ih, regardless of the grammar gender)
For more advanced students: Write this text or record it in the past simple or future simple!
For all the versions and video lessons based on this text, check out my Patreon blog. Hvala :) 

A practical route into Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises

This lesson works best as a short sequence: notice the target form, connect it with meaning, and use it in a fresh sentence. In Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises, the original material remains the starting point; the additions below make its language easier to retrieve in real conversation.

Working with a short text

Effective practice moves from global understanding to detail and finally to production. Listen or read once without stopping, identify a few useful chunks, and then retell the message in your own Serbian. In this particular lesson, use that principle to interpret the examples connected with Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises.

Five sentences from the text

Latin scriptCyrillic scriptEnglish
Postavljam sebi kratka pitanja.Постављам себи кратка питања.I ask myself short questions.
Naglas čitam najvažniji pasus.Наглас читам најважнији пасус.I read the most important paragraph aloud.
Ponavljam rečenicu prirodnim ritmom.Понављам реченицу природним ритмом.I repeat the sentence with a natural rhythm.
Tekst čitam dva puta pre vežbe.Текст читам два пута пре вежбе.I read the text twice before the exercise.
Podvlačim reči koje ne razumem.Подвлачим речи које не разумем.I underline the words I do not understand.

Move horizontally across one row, then vertically down each Serbian column. This change of direction prevents you from relying on position and strengthens independent recognition of both scripts. Apply that script strategy to the vocabulary in Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises.

Answer from the table, then without it

Read down the Latin column, then switch to Cyrillic without returning to English. Choose two examples, turn one into a question and make the other negative. Say both versions naturally. For this post, keep your final version connected with the situation in Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises.

Check your Serbian: Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises

Turn each English line back into natural Serbian. After writing both scripts, read the completed Serbian sentence aloud once. Keep every answer connected with Serbian with Easy Texts and Exercises.

  1. I ask myself short questions.
  2. I read the most important paragraph aloud.
  3. I repeat the sentence with a natural rhythm.
  4. Finally, I record my answer.
  5. First I listen without subtitles.

Answers for the easy text

  1. Postavljam sebi kratka pitanja.
    Постављам себи кратка питања.
  2. Naglas čitam najvažniji pasus.
    Наглас читам најважнији пасус.
  3. Ponavljam rečenicu prirodnim ritmom.
    Понављам реченицу природним ритмом.
  4. Na kraju snimam svoj odgovor.
    На крају снимам свој одговор.
  5. Prvo slušam bez titlova.
    Прво слушам без титлова.