Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Past tense in Serbian. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Past tense in Serbian. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Past tense in Serbian

Prošlo vreme, or Perfekt, as we call it in Serbian, is the past tense which covers all the English past tenses (the Past Simple, Past Continuous, Present and Past perfect). It is most commonly used tense for expressing past time events. The Aorist tense is also used, though not that often.

Formation of PERFECT in Serbian

Here is the formula for the Past Tense in Serbian:

LONG FORM:
Subject + present of TO BE + Past Participle (or literally: ' past participle adjective ' = glagolski pridev radni) For a very thorough explanation check this link.

Ti si plesala. (You were dancing.)

SHORT FORM:

Past Participle + present of TO BE


Plesala si.


It is formed by replacing the 'i/e/ati' or 'ći' infinitive ending of the verb with the past participle endings as follows:

Masc. Sg -o
Fem. Sg - la
N. Sg -lo
Masc. Pl -li
Fem. Pl - le
N. Pl -la

I will use the opportunity of this excellent video to introduce past tense verbs:

Novak je pobedio Federera.

Novakova devojka je skakala od sreće, a njegovi prijatelji su se radovali.

Federer je polomio reket, a posle je bacao flaše, što možete videti na snimku.



* With reflexive form of the word, the auxilliary "to be" is dropped in the third person singular, so :
"She woke up" = Ona se probudila. or Probudila se.  (instead of ona je se probudila, or probudila je se)

For more Serbian video lessons check this page.

Monday, November 08, 2021

Serbian 401 - Aspect in Serbian

Since there aren't many exercises on perfective and imperfective aspect in Serbian, I'll share all my video lessons and exercises for you to practice. 

Aspect in Serbian - Short Explanation

The easiest way to see the difference and the most frequent forms are to contrast present and past tense in Serbian. 

Aspect in Serbian - Trošiti vs Potrošiti  

  1. The Perfective Aspect of the verbs in Serbian shows most naturally in the past tense, denoting the finished action: Potrošila sam puno novca na kompjuter (I have spent /I spent a lot of money on the computer)
  2. The Imperfective Aspect shows clearly in the present tense, showing duration: Dok ti štediš novac, ja ga trošim (While you are saving money, I am spending it) - HOWEVER, it can be used for regular actions and habits as well: koliko novca trošiš svakog mesec? (how much money do you spend each month) 


Aspect in Serbian - Video Exercise

Therefore, this word order exercise is dedicated only to this clear PRESENT/PAST distinction 



For more, make sure you follow Serbian 301 and 401 posts!

Aspect in Serbian - Word order Exercise




Thursday, February 14, 2013

Serbian Language 365 Day 3 - Intermediate level & Past Tense

Let's practise the Simple Past Tense in the Serbian language. While the beginner and pre-intermediate courses of Serbian  focus is on phrases, present tense, modals and cases, the intermediate course focuses on aspects, explaining the subtle differences between "odmarati" and "odmoriti" and similar.

Since we are at the very beginning of everyday Serbian lesson series, let me introduce you to some of the earlier posts covering this topic:
...as well as one of the Youtube videos, which somehow connect with the yesterday's post, so now it can be easily understood:


Text : "Gde si bila ?" (Fem. Sg.) / "Gde si bio?" (Masc. Sg.) = Where were you ?
Fem. Sg. Bila sam u ...
Masc. Sg. Bio sam u ...

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Past Tense Practice in Serbian

Past Tense Practice in Serbian

You can find lots of useful info on the Simple Past tense in Serbian in some of the previous posts on this blog. Today I'd like to share a cute song I found on Youtube - all you have to do is to listen to it carefully and add the past tense suffixes to the past tense and present tense verbs and a few suffixes with the nouns in plural. 



Dlan_ _ _ ti puni snova
Osmeh boje izazova
Reci, kud si krenu_ _?
U srcu ti ceo svemir
U oč_ _ _ kriješ nemir
Snove si sakri_ _

Zvezd_  su u tvojoj kosi
Kao da te jesen pros_
Nikom neće da te da
Hoda_ lako kao vila
Gde si se do sada kri_ _
To me baš zanima

Samoj sebi već sam čudna
Svake noći ja sam budna
Šta se sa mnom desi_ _
Tvoji prst_ na gitari
I sve te lagane stvar_
Sviraj mi ponovo

Malo čežnje na tvom licu
Leptir slete_ na žicu
Nebo se osmehu_ _
Probaj sa mnom sne da deli_
Šapući mi sve što želiš
Niko nas ne čuje

Hajde da malo proba_ _
Baš to x3
Jagod_ s puno šlaga
Ti si mi tako draga
Pa nek ide sve
Do vraga

Hajde da malo krade_ _
Baš to x3
Osmeh od sladoleda
Noć ima ukus meda
Šta je iza tvog pogleda

Source and download via Youtube channel Vanja Grastić



If you are not sure about the meaning, I prepared a quiz with which you can learn the words, and later on you can try to sing the song :)

Let's learn the vocabulary:
Let's listen:
Let's play:

Saturday, August 03, 2013

How to Use the Serbian Conjugator ?

If you've practised the Accusative form of the nouns and pronouns with the video in the previous post, it's time to expand your confidence onto the verbs which require a noun/pronoun in this case. With all the listed nouns (TV, pegla, mobilni telefon, mašina za veš ...), the following verbs, properly conjugated, will make sense:
  • videti (to see) Present Tense conjugations: Sg: vidIM, vidIŠ, vidI Pl: vidIMO, vidITE, vidE           Past Tense : Sg: videO, videLA, videLO Pl: videLI, videLE, videLA
  • gledati (to watch) gledAM, gledAŠ, gledA - gledAMO, gledATE, gledAJU ( for the following verbs you'll see only: PRESENT Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju and for the PAST Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la )
  • imati (to have)  Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju (imaJU) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • koristiti (to use) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (koristE) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • raditi (to work) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (rade) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • popravljati (to fix) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju (popravljaju) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • uključiti (to turn on) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (uključe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • isključiti (to turn off) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (isključe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • kupiti (to buy) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (kupe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • prodati (to sell) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (prodate) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • vratiti (to return) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (vrate) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • (po)kvariti se (to break down) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (pokvare) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
  • baciti (to throw away) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (bace) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
If you are a beginner in Serbian, let's focus on the present simple tense and practise conjugating out loud with the:

Present tense examples:
  • Imam telefon, ali GA ne gledam.
  • Moj brat ima mašinu za sudove i često JE koristi.
If you are at an intermediate level, I guess that dealing with the past simple won't be much of the problem. The idea of this blog post is to encourage you to become more fluent and confident. That's why you can simply learn/revise past simple in Serbian and make a few similar sentences like in the example:

Past tense examples:
  • Kupili smo mobilni telefon i čim smo GA uključili, odmah se pokvario.
  • Moj sin je popravio peglu i kada sam videla kako dobro radi bacila sam JE. 

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Serbian 201 - Present Tense to Past Tense

Present Tense to Past Tense

Here comes a fun exercise to help you practice the Simple past tense in Serbian. Let's turn this present tense story into the past tense:

Serbian Past Tense Exercise
Pay attention, the underlined words are in the Nominative/infinitive



Thursday, June 19, 2014

Jesam or Sam in Serbian?

After uploading a hundred of videos both from Serbian 101 and Serbian 102 course, and revising each of them, Ivan decided to help me with his 3D effects vidos. So far he's made 30 short videos with the verbs used in the course, in the present and past tense so far, but he plans to make 5 more each day.

I'll post some of them here on the blog, but for the complete version, refer to the Serbian101-102 course. Here comes its short description:

Serbian 101 &102 is perfect for absolute and false beginners in Serbian. It is organized in such a way that you can either follow it chronologically, or choose only the topics you are interested in. Each topic consists of an explanatory video lesson and then video exercises with links to follow-up quizzes with instant feedback. 
There are more than 100 lessons making well over 10 hours of video lessons and exercises which take you from the very start to the pre-intermediate level, covering:
  • Tenses: Present Simple and Past Simple Tense
  • Cases: Nominative, Accusative, Instrumental and Locative
  • Modals: Can, Must
  • Pronouns: Personal and Possessive Pronouns
  • Adjectives: Possessive Adjectives and Noun-adjective Agreement
  • Numbers: Cardinal and Ordinal
as well as basic:
  • functions such as:
    • Greetings
    • Introductions
    • Asking for Clarification/Explanation
    • Asking about Directions
    • Giving Directions
    • Requesting 
    • Offering
    • Expressing Likes and Dislikes
    • Asking about Likes and Dislikes
  • situations such as:
      • Meeting People
      • Small Talk
      • In a Restaurant
      • Shopping
      • Arranging a Meeting
      • Talking about Family
      • Talking about Routines
      • Talking about your Life
  • vocabulary topics such as:
    • Family members
    • Numbers
    • Food
    • Souvenirs
    • Places in a city
    • Countries and Cities
    • Means of transport
    • Colours
    • Jobs and occupations

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Verb Biti in Serbian

Biti in Serbian

The verb "TO BE" in Serbian is something you should learn at the very beginning, because you'll need it not to express the most essential facts about yourself, but also because it is used as an auxiliary verb in the Simple Past tense.

That's why this post dedicated to the different conjugations, i.e. forms, of the verb to be can be useful both for the beginners and more advanced students.

A few short videos and exercises with the verb Biti in Serbian

Exercise 1
While watching this video say "This is a... These are ...s" using these structures:
  • Ovo je ... (+ nominative Sg)


Exercise 2:
  • Ovo su ...(+ nominative Pl) 
  • Ovo je...(+ nominative Sg)

Exercise 3
While watching this video say what the photos are about (the locative case ) using the phrase: Ova slika je o... = This photo is about

Exercise 4
Using these full forms of the verb TO BE, give the positive and negative answers with 

the full form of the verb to be:


Links to the previous posts about the verb Biti in Serbian

Friday, July 17, 2009

Past Tense Plural suffixes in Serbian

Past Tense with Garfield

Džon: Danas sam naporno radio.
Danas - today
Sam - to be ( I am = ja sam)
Raditi - to work (Sing. masc. radio, fem. radila, neuter radilo)
Naporno - hard (to work hard - naporno raditi)

Gafrild: Znači sad je vreme za zabavu.
Znači - it means
Sad - now
Je - to be (it is - to je ('to' refers to 'vreme' (neuter))
Vreme - time
Za - for
Zabavu - entertainment, fun

Practice : Turning Past Tense Sg for masc. and fem. into Plural

As I mentioned in some of the previous posts, in the Past Tense there is an important
distinction among masc. ending in -o, fem. ending in -la, and neuter. ending in -lo.
For Plural, the endings are as follows:
Pl. masc. - li
Pl. fem. - le
Pl. neut. -la

Try to turn the Singular forms for Masc. / Fem. nouns from the previous exercise into Plural:

1. USTATI (GET UP)
1a. TO A GIRL: ustala
TO GIRLS ustale

1b. TO A BOY: ustao
TO BOYS: ustali

2. ZAVRŠITI (FINISH)
2a. TO GIRLS:
2b. TO BOYS:

3. KUPITI (BUY)
3a. TO GIRLS:
3b. TO BOYS:

4. ZABORAVITI (FORGET)
4a. TO GIRLS:
4b. TO BOYS:

5. VIDETI (SEE)
5a. TO GIRLS:
5b. TO BOYS:

6. PRODATI (SELL)
6a. TO GIRLS:
6b. TO BOYS:
7. BITI (TO BE)
7a. TO GIRLS:
7b. TO BOYS:

8. SAKRITI (HIDE)
8a. TO GIRLS:
8b. TO BOYS:

9. UZETI (TAKE)
9a. TO GIRLS:
9b. TO BOYS:

10. DOBITI (GET)
10a. TO GIRLS:
10b. TO BOYS:


Now, do the same with full sentences: Don't forget the verb to be! There are two common word orders:

Formal. S + to be+ Vb+o/la/lo/li/le/la
example: Ona je ustala. (Singular) One su ustale. (Plural)

Informal. Vb+o/la/lo/li/le/la + To Be
example. Ustala je. (Singular) Ustale su. (Plural)

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Conjugation of To Be in Serbian

----------Present Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja sam
Ti si
On je
Ona je
Mi smo
Vi Ste
Oni/one/ona su
---------------Past Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja sam bio/bila
Ti si bio/bila
On je bio
Ona je bila
Ono je bilo
Mi smo bili(masc)/bile(fem)/bila (neuter)
Vi ste bili(masc)/bile(fem)/bila (neuter)
Oni su bili(masc)
One su bile(fem)
Ona su bila (neuter)
---------------------Future Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja ću biti
Ti ćeš biti
On će biti
Ona će biti
Ono će biti
Mi ćemo biti
Vi ćete biti
Oni/one/ona će biti

Don't forget to check:

Tuesday, October 08, 2019

Serbian 102 - Past tense of Biti

Stiže još jedan / još jedna set of exercises to practice one of the lessons from Serbian 102 course!



Past tense of To be Explained

You can find the pronunciation and the form of the verb to be in Serbian in this post published earlier.



Past tense of To be with Exercises




Past tense of To be - Games



Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Serbian 201 - Zvati SE in Past Tense

In the previous post we practiced the phrase "what's your name" or "how are you called" = "kako se zoveš" in Present Tense. Today we are practicing the same phrase but in the past tense with the family vocabulary :)

Zvati se in Past Tense - MATCH



Learning Zvati se in Past  



Test with zvati se in Past


Thursday, October 24, 2019

Serbian 301 - Retelling Story

In Serbian 301 one is practicing to confidently ask and answer questions about some past tense events. This can be practiced in different ways:

  • talking about your past, or past events in your life
  • talking about your friends and family and their experiences
  • retelling a short story that we have previously learnt
  • retelling an interesting film/book plot
Additionally, you can also practice telling a story based on a suitable song. Let's take Kristing by Zdravko Čolić, for example!

Retelling Story in Serbian - Song 


Retelling Story in Serbian

For the sake of understanding here comes a page with the lyrics translation (not the perfect one, though, but you'll get the gist) and now you can practice retelling the story with the following set of exercises:







Retelling Story by asking questions

Now that you know what has actually happen, can you add your questions in the comments below?
Let me start with just a few:
  1. Kada je Zdravko išao na salaš?
  2. Gde je bio salaš?
  3. Šta sve znači "društvo"?
  4. Ko je stajao na vratima?
  5. Šta je petrolejka?

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Serbian Language Day 10 - Aspect in Serbian

I hope you enjoyed revising the Simple Past in Serbian and wondering why the last lesson was so easy for someone at an intermediate level. The obvious reason is the introduction into this tense, because it'll lead us to the trickiest aspect of the Serbian language:

While in the English language there's an elaborate system of tenses (level of syntax) in order to express whether an action took place, was talking place or has been talking place, in the Serbian language, these distinctions are inferred mainly from the verb, at the lexical level. For example:
  • odmorio (had a rest) or odmarao (was having a rest)
That's why I prepared quite a lot video lessons about Jeremija and Spomenka, and the follow-up exercises, hoping that it'll help you clarify the aspect in Serbian. Let me start with this  difficult one, but if it's too easy, check this one out :)














  • PROBUDITI = to wake up (perfective)
  • BUDITI = to wake up (imperfective)
  • RAZBUDITI = to wake up (perfective)
Kada se obično budiš ? = When do you usually wake up ?
Koliko ti treba vremena da se probudiš ? = How much time does it take for you to wake up ?
Kada si se jutros probudio ? When did you wake up yesterday ?
Jutros sam se probudio u pola šest (5.30) = This morning I woke up at 5.30

In the "she-version", Jeremija made a few mistakes. Here're the correct text:

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Meaning of the Verb "slagati se " in Serbian

Slažu se kao pas i mačka :)
The verb "slagati se" imperf.(with first "a" being long) /"složiti se" perf.  = to agree * can have a range of different meanings in Serbian and we're going to discuss them today, because I'll need it for my next lesson about Serbian history.

  • If two colours match, we say "slažu se". For example: Plava se slaže sa žutom, ali se ne slaže sa crvenom (slagati se = to match)
  • If a brother and sister get on/along with each other, we say "oni se slažu". For example: Baš imaš sreće, tvoj  brat i ti se dobro slažete. (You are rally lucky, your brother and you get along very well)
  • If you agree to go out with your friend, you will say: "slažem se". For example: Hoćeš li da idemo u restoran večeras ? Važi, slažem se! (Would you like to go to a restaurant tonight ? OK, I agree!)
  • If two people are at each other's throats, i.e." fight like cat(s) and dog(s)" you can similarly describe it in Serbian as "slažu se kao pas i mačka"!
The simple present tense conjugations of the verb SLAGATI:
(Sg) Slažem se - slažeš se - slaže se  (Pl) Slažemo se - slažete se - slažu se 

The past tense verb forms 
- Imperfective aspect
( _ denotes the auxiliary "to be" which shows which person is the sentence referring to)
(Sg) M slagao _ se, F slagala _ se, N slagalo _  se
(Pl) M slagali _ se , F slagale _ se, N slagala _ se
- Perfective aspect:

( _ denotes the auxiliary "to be" which shows which person is the sentence referring to)
(Sg) M složio _ se, F složila _ se, N složilo _  se
(Pl) M složili _ se , F složile _ se, N složila _ se


The simple future forms:
- Imperfective aspect
(Sg) Slagaću se - slagaćeš se - slagaće se
(Pl) Slagaćemo se - slagaćete se - slagaće se
Perfective aspect:
(Sg) Složiću se - složićeš se - složiće se
(Pl) Složićemo se - složićeš se - složiće se

* You might also find the word "slagati" which means "to lie", but the stress pattern is different (with the first  "a" being short) and there is no reflexive " se".
** You might also find the word "slagati" with the same  stress pattern as "slagati se" (to agree), but without the reflexive "se". In that case, the verb "slagati" means "to stack things" or " to put things in order" 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Second Conditional in Serbian Language

Ti si _______ čokolada
Ja sam ________ čokolada
I ____ _______ tako mlada,
Ja _______ te __________.

Ja ______ te ________...

Ti si _______ čokolada
Ja sam ________ čokolada,
I ____ _________ onog gada,
Ja _______ te __________.

Ja ______ te ________...



This is a great song to introduce Second Conditional sentences (Potencijalne uslovne rečenice) in the Serbian language. It's useful for you to refer to the Past Tense post, especially the section about forming of the Past Participle (glagolski pridev radni) , which would be essential for the forming of this kind of If-clauses. You can do some drills with these Past Simple exercises beforehand.

Now, for the language theory & grammar buffs:

A. Conditional Tense + If-clause
('DA' + Present Simple)

Ja bih kupila pantalone da imam para.
or
Kupila bih pantalone da imam para.
ili
Da imam para, kupila bih pantalone.

B. Conditional Tense + If-clause
('KAD/UKOLIKO/AKO' + Conditional Tense)

Ja bih kupila pantalone kad bih imala para.
or
Kupila bih pantalone kad bih imala para.
ili
Kad bih imala para, kupila bih pantalone.

Conditional Tense:
Subject
+ would be ( bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi)
( called 'Aorist of the simple form of the verb 'to be')
+ Past Participle

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Serbian Language 365 - Day 5 Singing in Serbian

If you have been following this blog, you've certainly noticed that there are a lot of songs with which you can practise your language. The main reason is that songs will help you with fluency, because while singing you repeat the same structures, collocations and fixed verb+case noun sets, and this boosts your confidence and automatic responses.

Before I continue creating new songs+exercises, such as this one, let me give you a short review of the past songs and grammar points which my students really loved:

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Serbian Online Course about Animals


Brand New Serbian Online Course

If you have followed my previous posts about using different groups of vocabulary to build up more complicated sentences in Serbian, I am sure you will like my new mini course which focuses on vocabulary (here comes the Christmas discount link). It is called Expanding Serbian Vocabulary - Animals and right now it covers all levels, from the beginner to advanced. You will be using the same sets of words in different contexts and with different grammar structures, starting with the verb to be, to the past tense, Accusative, Genitive, comparisons to conditionals.

This course is perfect for all the students of Serbian at different levels, who would like to expand their vocabulary in different contexts. It is based the vocabulary describing domestic and wild animals

Serbian Online Course - Structure

Each section consists of:
  • intro video lesson with me pronouncing the words
  • video lesson without my pronunciation
  • video lessons with exercises where you have to supply the missing words
  • quizzes and grammar exercises
  • speaking practice video with lots of questions and a link where you can record/write your answers

Serbian Online Course about Animals - Free Lesson





Saturday, November 05, 2011

Past Tense of To Be in Serbian

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Personal Pronouns in Accusative

In the previous post you could see the different forms of pronouns in the Accusative case in Serbian:

There are quite a lot of verbs which require the Accusative, and "voleti" or "to love" obviously requires a direct object. Therefore you'll come across this form in many a song:

The same goes for the verb ZVATI. Since we are going to practice Serbian with two songs with this verb, let's start with a bit of theory:


and then let's practice with a game:
If you like these Quizlet exercises, here's one more with the verbs to see and to go to (Videti i Ići u + Akuzativ)

Finally, when you feel confident using the pronouns in Accusative, let's sing the following songs in 
Zovem ______  zovem, a ti tako 
nećeš da čuješ zov iz duše
zovem ______  zovem ko zna gde si
dok moji snovi već se ruše

Ref. 2x
Zovem ______  zovem, noću te sanjam
uzalud širim ruke svoje
zovem ______  zovem, al' čemu sve to
ti drugu ljubiš oko moje

Zovem______ zovem, a ti tako 
ni pismom jednim da se javiš
zovem ______  zovem noći svake
a ti ne čuješ ili se praviš

Ref. 2x

Zovem ______  zovem, gde si mili
traže ______  moje vlažne oči
zovem ______  zovem srećni bi bili
javi mi dal' ćeš nekad doći

Ref. 2x

Poći ću u šume da ____ opet tražim
uz tišinu rijeke da ___  mirno sanjam
i dok mesec sija gledaću u zvijezde
ne bih li ___ sreo sretnu i daleku
aha, aha, aha

Zvao sam ___ Emili
u moj je san ko u svoj ušla dom
zbog nje se dan pretvorio u noć 
i pjesme sve poludjele zbog nje 
kao kiše prolećne

Zvao sam ____ Emili
u danima kad voljesmo se mi
od proljeća do kasne jeseni
zbog nje, zbog nje izgubio sam sve
čak i dobre drugove

Zvao sam ____  Emili

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