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Showing posts with label Serbian idioms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serbian idioms. Show all posts

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"

common phrases , Serbian idioms
Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"
If you are wondering how I choose the topics for everyday blog posts, the answer is very simple: they are based on the questions my students ask me in our online lessons.

One of the recent ones was to list phrases with the verb "faliti", which can mean "to miss", "not to have", "to lack", but in some idioms it cannot be translated in such a simplistic manner:

  • Šta fali ? = So what ? or What's wrong with that ? This phrase is often used to strongly disagree with someone who has a different point of view. Let me make up a short dialogue: 
Ana:   Nemoj piti tu vodu !
Pera:  Što ? Šta joj fali ????


  • Fali joj/mu daska u glavi ! = To have a screw loose in one's head or Not to have all their marbles. 
Na primer: Šta ovaj bunca ? - Ma pusti ga!  Očigledno mu fali daska u glavi !


  • Neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave ! = Not a hair on your head will be harmed ! 
Na primer: Ne smeju ti ništa dok sam ja uz tebe! Ne brini, neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave !

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment box below ;-)
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Sunday, August 04, 2013

Serbian Idioms with "Videti"

common phrases , parts of speech
Serbian Idioms with "Videti"
I'm sure you've thoroughly practised the verb "videti" with the video lesson with gadgets and appliances and the "conjugator video". Now it's time to learn to recognize different parts of speech with this verb through the list of common phrases and idioms in Serbian :

Verb form: VIDETI
  • Ooo, koga to vidim ! = expressing surprise when you see someone (As I leve and breathe!; Well, what do you know; Lo and behold)
  • Imaš šta da vidiš! = something worth seeing ( A sight for sore eyes, Something to look at; A million-dollar look)
  • Sad GA vidiš, sad GA ne vidiš = a fly-by-night (an unreliable, dishonest person) / now you see it, now you don't (a magician's trick) 
  • Što video, ne video = to turn a blind eye on sth.; mum's the word (to pretend not to have seen anything)
Noun form: VID (sight), VIDelo (sight / light), VIDik (view/perspective)
  • Izneti (nešto) na videlo = to bring something to light (to reveal); to bring soemthing into the open
  • Izgubiti (nešto) iz vida = to lose sight of something 
  • Imati (nešto) u vidu = to bear in mind, to take into account, to keep sight of something
  • Nestati sa vidika =  to recede from view / to vanish into thin air / to fade away
Gerund or "glagolska imenica"  : VIĐENJE (ending in -nje, which corresponds with English -ing)
  • Do (skorog) viđenja = so long (a farewell) 
  • Poznavati nekog iz viđenja = to know someone by sight / to have a nodding acquaintance with someone
Past Participle or Trpni glagolski pridev (adjective): VIĐEN (ending in -n or -t, which corresponds with English -ed or PP form of the verb)
  • Rado viđen = popular, in high favour 
Notice the use of this phrase "rado viđen" + "gost" at the very beginning of the famous song "Jabuke i Vino":


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Monday, November 19, 2012

Serbian Idioms - "Doterati Cara Do Duvara"

Serbian idioms ,
Serbian Idioms - "Doterati Cara Do Duvara"
The Serbian idiom "doterati cara do duvara" has the similar meaning as the English one "to come to a head". I have often heard  this phrase in my childhood, always wondering what "duvar" might mean.

The word "duvar" is a loan word, and if you go to Google translate and check it at Turkish-English translation, you'll find out that the meaning of the word is "zid" (wall). So, the literal translation would resemble the expression "to drive someone (in this case "the tzar") up the wall" and yet, Serbian phrase for this expression (drive someone up the wall) is "dovesti nekog do ludila" (or litterally "make someone crazy"). You can check the pronunciation of these two idioms here, at our audio forum (and I hope you'll surprise your Serbian family or friends by pronouncing the phrases correctly and using them appropriately).

Talking about the usage, I was really surprised that in my group of eight teenage students only one had heard of  "doterati cara do duvara". She explained that her teacher of Serbian insists on students learning and using proverbs and idioms, but she also hasn't heard of the phrase being used outside of the classroom!  Does this mean that we tend to use idioms less frequently, or is it the case just with this idiom ? Maybe the world has changed for better and  retko iko ikada (rarely does anyone) "dotera cara do duvara" :)

What do you think ?
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Learn Serbian Podcast

Accusative in Serbian , Learn Serbian Podcast
Learn Serbian Podcast
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Friday, May 27, 2011

"Vukova crtanka" - part two

Serbian idioms , Serbian phrases
"Vukova crtanka" - part two
The previous post with Serbian proverbs and sayings covered letters from A to Đ, and now we continue from E to Ž:
E
1. E, darovnome konju zubi se ne gledaju (Don't look a gift horse in the mouth) - nowadays we tend to say "Poklonu se u zube ne gleda" (obviously the word "horse" is omitted, which makes this modern version a bit funny, but it's widely used)
2. E, da sam juče umro ne bih to danas čuo
(literally: If I'd died yesterday I wouldn't hear it today)
3. E, dok jednom ne smrkne, drugom ne svane
(the death of the wolves is the safety of the sheep) -here's the fun definition 
4. E, dok se čovek dima ne nadimi, ne može se ogrejati.
(you must take the rough with the smooth)

Ž ( Ж is my favourite letter in the Cyrillic script)
1- Žena muža nosi na licu, a muž ženu na košulji
(literally: "A wife wears a man on her face, and a husband wears his wife on his shirt", which obviously mean that one can judge how a husband treats his wife by looking at her face, while one can judge how a wife takes care of her husband by looking at his shirt)
2. Žedna preko vode prevesti
(pull the wool over sombody's eyes)
3. Žena će samo onu tajnu sačuvati koju ne zna
(a woman can keep only the secret which she doesn't know)
4. Ženi sina kad hoćeš, a ćerku kad  možeš
(Marry your son when you will, your daughter when you can)

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Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
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