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Monday, December 22, 2008

Expressions of politeness in Serbian

IZRAZI UČTIVOSTI NA SRPSKOM

1. MOLIM? I beg Your pardon?
2. OPROSTITE I am sorry.
3. ŽAO MI JE I am sorry.
4. IZVINITE Excuse me.
5. MOLIM VAS, RECITE MI...Please, tell me...
6. MOLIM VAS, POKAŽITE MI... Please, show me...
7. MOLIM VAS, DAJTE MI... Please, give me...
8. DA LI BISTE, MOLIM VAS... Would you, please...
9. ŽELEO-ŽELELA BIH ... I would like...
10. HVALA Thank you.
11. HVALA LEPO Thank you very much.
12. HVALA UNAPRED Thank you in advance.
13. HVALA TAKOĐE Thank you, too.
14. NEMA NA ČEMU Don't mention it.
15. VEOMA SAM ZAHVALAN I am very grateful.
16. VRLO STE LJUBAZNI You are very kind.
17. NE LJUTITE SE NA MENE Don't be angry with me.
18. NE BRINITE ZA TO Don't worry about it.
19. NADAM SE DA ĆETE MI OPROSTITI I hope you will forgive me.

Dative Case in Serbian

Marina serbian cases ,

Dative in Serbian

Form:

Masculine Sg. grad+u
Masculine Pl. grad+ov+ima
Neuter Sg. sel+u
Neuter Pl. sel+i+ma
Feminine Sg. stvar+i / zemlj+i
Feminine Pl. stvar+ima / zemlj+ama

Usage:

Dative is a case which denotes a thing or a being to whom something is sent, directed or given. It is used both with and without prepositions.

Dative without prepositions:

1. Dative of purpose - Dedi i baki unuka poklanja osmeh.
2. Dative of benefit - Tesla je ucinio dobro ljudima.
3. Subject dative - Starcu se dremalo.
4. Possessive dative - Ja sam Petru brat.
5. Dative of affection - Kako si mi?
6. Dative in oaths - Tako mi postenja!
7. Dative with phrases evo, eno, eto - Evo ti jabuka!
8. Dative with verbs of movement - Petar pridje svom drugu.

Dative with prepositions:

k, ka = to (dative only) - Krenuo je ka Parizu.
prema = towards (both dative and genetive) -Idemo prema Srbiji.
protiv, suprot, nasuprot, uprkos = against (dative only) - Pobedili smo uprkos vremenu.

( Dative with 'ka' and 'prema' are the ones most frequently used)

Čika Jova Zmaj - Тихо Ноћи

Marina Serbian poems ,

Tiho noći

Tiho, noći,

Moje sunce spava;

Za glavom joj

Od bisera grana;

A na grani

K'o da nešto bruji -

To su pali

Sićani slavuji:

Žice predu

Iz svilenog glasa,

Otkali joj

Duvak do pojasa,

Pokrili joj

I lice i grudi, -

Da se moje

Sunce ne probudi.

Jован Јовановић Змај

Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (in English)

Pronunciation of sounds ш (š), љ (lj), ж (ž)

Marina Serbian pronunciation ,

Кашика, виљушка, нож.
Иде брзи воз.
У возу се возе: кашика, виљушка, нож.

Kašika, viljuška, nož.
Ide brzi voz.
U vozu se voze: kašika, viljuška, nož.

Asking Yes/No questions in Serbian

Marina Question form in Serbian ,

If you want to ask Yes/No questions in Serbian always start with 'DA LI', no matter what tense. For the Present Tense keep this word order :

Da li (+Subject if it is necessary, or cannot be inferred from the conjugation) + Verb ... Example: Da li Ivan živi u Novom Sadu? Da li živimo u Novom Sadu?

Da li + Verb TO BE (+ S ) Example: Da li si u Parizu? Da li si ti Ivan?

Da li + se (+ S) + Verb in case of verbs with reflexive pronoun 'se' ... Example: Da li se on zove Ivan? Da li se budiš u pet ili u šest?

Let me add the word order commonly used in colloquial speech:

Živi li Ivan u Novom Sadu ? - Verb + li + (S)
Jesi li u Parizu ? - To be (only the full forms: jesam/jesi/jeste/jesmo/jeste/jesu) + li + (S) ...
Zoveš li se Ivan ? - Verb + li + se + (S) / Jel' + se +(S) + Verb

Exercise: Make 6 Yes/No questions about Ivan. The answers are in the first comment, because Ivan doesn't feel like recording his own voice right now :o(

A story about Ivan

Marina serbian conjugations ,

Priča o Ivanu

Ovo je Ivan. On živi u Novom Sadu. Njegova omiljena boja je plava. On ima stariju sestru. On obožava da se igra na kompjuteru. On ima puno igračaka.

Instructions: turn this story into first person Singular - starting with 'Zovem se Ivan/ Ja sam Ivan...'

Locative in Serbian

Marina exercises in Serbian , Learn Serbian online

Lokativ

Lokativ ____ (is) padež koji ide uz predloge 'na', 'u', 'o', 'po', 'pri'. On označava mesto ____ ( where) se vrši radnja ili gde se nešto nalazi. Zato se i ______ (named) padežom mesta. Latinski 'locus' ______ (means) mesto. Evo nekoliko primera ______ (with) predlogom 'U':

Ljudi žive u Beograd__ , u Kruševc__, u Brisel__ ili na sel_. Kada ____ (are) imenice muškog i srednjeg roda u jednini, onda se doda nastavak 'U'. Ljudi žive i u Srbij___, Belgij__, Italij__ - ali pošto su ovo imenice ženskog roda u jednini, one gube poslednje 'a', i dodaje im se nastavak 'I'.

Lokativ se _________ (also) koristi i da iskažemo o kome pričamo, i tada se koristi _______ (with) predlog "o". Juče sam pričala o prijatelj___, muškarcim_, drugaric__ i odel___- u množini lokativ zahteva sledeće nastavke -ima, za muški rod, -ama i srednji -ima!

*********** Translation & Answers*******************

Case suffixes in Serbian

Marina exercises , serbian cases

One of the most difficult features of the Serbian language are declensions, i.e. different suffixes which words such as nouns, pronouns, adjectives take in different cases. Let me add all of them in one place, while in the following posts you will be able to focus on practicing these cases, one by one and in a more fun way!

Singular Cases Suffixes in Serbian

Case name:	Answers question:	Used to describe:	Suffixes (I tried describing just the majority of case endings, general rule, not the exceptions and specific ones)
Nominative	KO? ŠTA? Who? What?	Usually the subject of a sentence and predicative	- Masc. most often ends in a consonant - Fem. most often ends in A - Neut. most often ends in -E or -O
Genitive	KOGA?ČEGA? Of who? Of what?	Possession, belonging, a part of something	- Masc. nouns take an - A ending - Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -E ending - Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - A ending (while some nouns in animate category add an infix T, so you get deteTA, pileTA)
Dative	KOME?ČEMU? To whom? To what?	The noun to which/ whom something is given, shown, etc.	- Masc. nouns take an - U ending - Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -i ending - Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - U ending
Accusative	KOGA? ŠTA? Whom? What?	Usually the object of a sentence	- Masc. nouns describing inanimate concepts don't change while nouns in animate category (person / animal / plant) take an - A ending, the same as the genitive case - Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -U ending - Neut. nouns describing inanimate concepts don't change, regardless of the category (animate/inanimate)
Vocative	HEJ! Calling someone or in poems referring to something or some place	Used to address somebody or something	- Masc. nouns ending in a consonant take an - E ending, the ones ending in an -a drop the final -a and take an -O suffix, otherwise they don't change (examples: Dejvid - Dejvide! Pera - Pero! Mirko - Mirko! ) - Fem. nouns of the foreign origin don't change in the locative, while the two and more syllable ones drop the final -a and take an -O ending, while names ending in -CA drop the final A and take an -E (Marina! Kim! Nada - Nado! Ljubica - Ljubice!) - Neut. nouns don't change
Instrumental	S KIM? ČIM? Using, with, whom? Using, with, what?	Company (with preposition s) or utilization of something or someone to accomplish an action	- Masc. nouns take an - OM ending - Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -OM ending - Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - OM ending >>> for all genders, after some "soft" sounds you will have an ending -EM (mužEM, tušEM...)
Locative	GDE? O KOME? O ČEMU? Where? About whom?	Location, Relation	(It's good to know that the locative = dative in form) - Masc. nouns take an - U ending - Fem. nouns drop the final -a and take an -i ending - Neut. nouns drop the final -e or -o and take an - U ending

Plural Cases Suffixes in Serbian ... coming soon

Exercise with Case Suffixes in Serbian

Draga Anna,

Hvala ti za predivnu idej__ kako da vodim ovaj blog. Trudiću se da redovno objavljujem kratke prič__ ili postov__ , bez nastavak__ za padež___, a rešenj___ ćeš moći da pročitaš u audio fajl__ na vrhu___ svak___ post___. U početk___ ću pisati lakše tekst___ , pa sve teže i teže. Možeš mi i dojaviti šta ti se sviđa, a šta ne u komentar___.
Pošto svakodnevno izmišljam test____ za učenik___ englesk___, neće mi biti teško da to radim i za srpsk___ . Nadam se da ćeš uživati, kao i ostali vredni učenic__ koji nalete na ovaj blog.
Do sledećeg javljanj___ sve najbolje i puno pozdrav___
od Marin___

ps. the answer key is in comments

Questions in Serbian

Marina Situations , vocabulary

KO? - who?
ŠTA? - what?
KADA? - when?
GDE? - where?
KAKO? - how?
KOLIKO? - how much/many?
ZAŠTO ? - why?
ZBOG ČEGA ? - what for?
S KIM? - who with?
KOME? - who to?

Myngle wins!

Marina Myngle ,

from MYNGLE blog

It is with great excitement that I inform you that yesterday we won the Accenture Innovation Award!

Amongst 230 companies that applied, Myngle was first selected as one the top 5 that would present the concept in front of a jury panel from broader media, consulting, investment world. Quite exciting!
As founder of Myngle, I recorded a short 1 minute pitch, which was showed already in a posting below, and a longer one, which was shown during the conference, you can watch it here too:

During the pitch, I thought I had to be myself, and tell the real reasons that had brought me to start Myngle. It is not only about business, but also about some idealistic little voice inside me that sometimes speaks somewhat harder; something that made me believe that there are possibilities within our capacity that can really make a difference. I had a dream… that was Myngle J

you can continue reading here

Week Days in Serbian

Marina Situations , vocabulary

DANI U NEDELJI - days of the week
Days of the week - the video with useful phrases for arranging a meeting

PONEDELJAK - Monday
UTORAK - Tuesday
SREDA - Wednesday
ČETVRTAK - Thursday
PETAK - Friday
SUBOTA - Saturday
NEDELJA - Sunday

For more advanced exercises with days of the week in Serbian check out this post.

How do I say my name and address in Serbian

Marina Situations , vocabulary

Name and address in Serbian

Let's start with vocabulary covering the most essential phrases:

LIČNI PODACI = personal data

IME = first name
PREZIME = surname
DEVOJAČKO PREZIME = maiden name
LIČNA KARTA = identity card
PASOŠ = passport
MESTO ROĐENJA = place of birth
DATUM ROĐENJA = date of birth
STALNA ADRESA = permanent address
POŠTANSKA ADRESA = postal address
OŽENJEN = married (for men)
NEOŽENJEN = single (for men)
UDATA = married (for women)
NEUDATA = single (for women)
RAZVEDEN = divorced (for men)
RAZVEDENA = divorced (for women)
UDOVAC = widower
UDOVICA = widow
POL = sex
MALE = muški
FEMALE = ženski

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Singular Cases Suffixes in Serbian

Plural Cases Suffixes in Serbian ... coming soon

Exercise with Case Suffixes in Serbian

Friday, October 31, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Name and address in Serbian

How do I say my name and address in Serbian?

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