Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

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

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Let's Practice Serbian Cyrillic Script - Answer to Part 2

Thursday, October 03, 2013

What does Verb "Nositi" Mean in Serbian ?

The verb "nositi" in Serbian has many different translations into English :
  • nositi odeću = to wear clothes
  • nositi  torbu   = to carry a bag
  • nositi dete   = to bear a child
  • nositi se sa problemima = to cope with problems
So, while in English there's a multitude of different words representing only one word in Serbian, there's this very productive prefixation system in our language which will make things complicated. But don't worry ! If you start learning the approximate meanings of Serbian suffixes and prefixes, you'll pretty soon be able to infer the meaning from the context, if you know what the basic stem word means. Let me give you an example with the stem " nositi ", as explained above :
  • pre- = over/ across 
  1. prenositi = to carry over, 
  2. preneti dete = to bear a child longer than it is due, 
  3. preneti dete preko bare = to carry a child over a puddle
  • iz- = out of /thoroughly 
  1. izneti torbu = to carry out a bag, 
  2. iznositi odeću = to wear some clothes for years, 
  3. iznošena odeća = worn out clothes
  • u- = into 
  1. uneti torbu u kuću = to bring a bag into a house
  • s- = downward movement /  it also adds perfective aspect (sth. is finished) 
  1. snositi posledice = to bear the consequences
  2. snositi troškove školovanja = to bear the cost of tuition fees (for example)
  • pod - = to 
  1. podnositi buku = to bear the noise (Kako možeš da podneseš ovu užasnu buku = How can you bear this awful noise ?)
  2. podneti ostavku = to submit a resignation
  3. podneti poraz = to accept a defeat
  4. podnositi ( vreme / pritisak...) = to withstand (weather conditions / pressure)
  • od- = signifies the movement from/ out of or in the opposite direction
  1. odneti = to take sth.to (we took the clothes to them = odneli smo im odeću)
In the next post I'll list a few idioms with the verb "nositi". Watch this space!
If you like this type of blog posts, make sure you don't miss the previous ones covering the verbs:
For those of you who are still coping with the basics, here's a simple video with which you can drill present and past simple, saying sentences such as:
  • On nosi ... / ona nosi ... / ono nosi ...
or in the past
  • On je nosio ... / ona je nosila / ono je nosilo ... or
  • Nosio je... / nosila je ... / nosilo je ... (which is more common and neutral word order)
Here comes the video :

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Learn about Serbian Verbs with Children's Songs

Another great song which all the devojčice i dečaci sing is "Ivin voz" by Dragan Laković . It's also perfect to introduce a complex lexical system of the Serbian verb (which mirrors English phrasal verbs as well as perfectve /imperfective aspects ) :



The Cyrillic script version:
Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

Из куће је излетео на улицу Ива
сав задихан захуктао к'о локомотива.

Видели га другови, па за њим и они
потрчали, захуктали к'о прави вагони.

Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

Сад улицом тако јури та чудна колона
то воз Ивин путује са седам вагона.

The Latin script version:
Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

Iz kuće je izleteo na ulicu Iva
sav zadihan zahuktao k'o lokomotiva.

Videli ga drugovi, pa za njim i oni
potrčali, zahuktali k'o pravi vagoni.

Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

Sad ulicom tako juri ta čudna kolona
to voz Ivin putuje sa sedam vagona.



Interesting verb lexicology:

  • leteti = to fly, IZleteti = to fly out of 
  • huktati = to make a sound like a to train (figuratively: to complain) , ZAhuktati se  = to gather speed (for a train, or when doing something)
  • trčati = to run, POtrčati = to start running
An exercise covering this topic can be found on this SerbianLesson.com page.


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
Photo book