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

Sunday, February 09, 2014

How to Use to Use in Serbian :)

One of the ways to express that you "use" something or something is "useful" in Serbian is to learn all the speech parts of the verb #koristiti, which is connected with our previous post with Present Simple conjugations.

If you use it as a verb: KORISTITI, možete ga koristiti kroz različita vremena i oblike:
  • Present Simple conjugations: koristim- koristiš- koristi // koristimo-koristite-koriste (For example: Koji program koristiš za obradu slika? Koristim "Paint", ali mi se ne sviđa. Da li si video Miletove fotografije? On sigurno koristi nešto drugo!)
  • Radni glagolski pridev - the form used in Past Simple: koristio-koristila-koristilo//koristili-koristile-koristila (e.g. Ma i Mile je koristio "Paint", ali je išao na neki kurs gde su svi koristili "Korel", pa je i on naučio da radi u njemu... a i ja sa njim, tako da sada koristimo isti program.)
  • Trpni glagolski pridev - the form which equals the Past Participle in English, used either in the Passive or as an adjective: korišćen-korišćena-korišćeno//korišćeni-korišćene-korišćena (e.g. Šta je korišćeno pri izradi? ) as well as korišten-korištena-korišteno//korišteni-korištene-korištena
  • Always check this great Logos Conjugator when searching for Serbian verb conjugations!
If you use it as an adjective: KORIStAN. Here are a few examples
  • Ovaj savet je koristan = The advice is very useful.
  • Čuo sam veoma korisnu priču = I heard a very useful story:


If you use it as a noun: KORIST = benefit, or KORIŠĆENJE (upotreba) = use.

Here comes a list of clever thoughts (mudre misli) with this noun - check the link. Meni je najkorisnija i najzabavnija bila ova: (To me the most useful and funniest was this one)
Čovjeku koji je intelektualno viši od drugih, samoća pruža dvogubu korist; prvu, što je sam, i drugu, što nije s drugima :)))) 
Here are a few interesting common phrases and idioms with koristiti & korist:
  • Gde se dvojica svađaju, treći se koristi (verb=glagol) = two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it (similar to "zavadi pa vladaj" = divide and rule, which is more often used)
  • Izvući korist iz nečega =  to turn sometning to good account (Moj prijatelj iz svake situacije izvuče korist )
  • Raditi u korist nečega =in favour of someone, to someone's benefit/advantage (Sud je doneo presudu u našu korist) 
For more similar posts, check out the "Serbian Collocations" tag

Friday, May 27, 2011

"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)

Monday, May 02, 2011

"Vukova crtanka" - part one

Recently my son showed me his newly bought booklet with numerous proverbs, adages, tongue twisters and riddles called "Vukova crtanka" (Vuk's Colouring Book). Let me list my favourite ones:

A - Ako je neko lud, ne budi mu drug.
      Ako hoćeš koga da poznaš, podaj mu vlast.
B -  Bez alata nema zanata.
      Bolje umeti, nego imati.
V - Videla žaba gde se konj potkiva, pa i ona digla nogu.
      Veselo je srce golemo blago.
G - Gladnog ne teši, već nahrani.
      Gde je stida, tu je i poštenja.
D - Delo čoveka hvali.
     Dogovor kuću gradi.
Đ - Đe (gde) je obraz tu je i duša.
     Đe će kruška no pod krušku.

Q-A:
Pitao sin oca, kad je po svetu hteo poći:
- Od šta mi se valja najviše čuvati ?
- Od tuđe muke.

Tongue Twisters: (audio)
Pitala metla metlu, gde je metla metlu; Metla metla metlu iza vrata.
Čokančićem ćeš me, čokančićem ću te!
Cvrči, cvrči cvrčak, trči, trči trčak; trči, trči trk! Trčak trkom trči, crni cvrčak cvrči!

Part 2

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Latin Alphabet to/from Cyrillic Serbian Script


Here comes a great link to script conversion. I needed some urgent Latin to Cyrillic script conversion yesterday night, and after trying out a few sites, this one proved to be the best.

So, let's try it out by rewriting the following Serbian proverb from the Cyrillic script into Latin Alphabet:

Ко не плати руком, он ће душом.

Now let's translate the phrase to English using online dictionaries (you might get different funny sentences):

1. Who do not pays handful , him will sweetheart.
2. Who doesn't pay the hand, it is soul.

Well, does it make sense? Does anyone have an idea what the correct translation is?

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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