Srećan Uskrs svim pratiocima LearnSerbian.Blogspot.com Bloga :)

Happy Easter to all the followers of LearnSerbian.blogspot.com blog :)

Here's the link to the pronunciation of Happy Easter in Serbian (Srećan Uskrs) and
a commonly used phrases: Hristos vaskrse! Vaistinu vaskrse!

I hope you enjoyed listening to the beautiful Easter song and preparing an Easter bunny cake. Now, if you'd like to reward yourself, find out about Serbian School Easter Egg Hunt by joining "Learn Serbian Podcast" FaceBook group and reading about the prizes and how to claim them:

I need = Treba mi

I guess one of the most needed verbs in a language must be the verb to need = trebati :) It is a really handy word in Serbian, because of the two following reasons:

Firstly, this verb doesn't conjugate, because in its simplest meaning "I need (something)" we actually use "Treba mi" where "mi" means "to me". If you want to say "You need", it will be "Treba Vam" (formal version) or "Treba ti" (informal version). Therefore, you'll simply change the pronoun as follows:

• TREBA mi hamburger
• TREBA ti pica 
• TREBA mu vino (to him / it = mu)
• TREBA joj muzika (to her = joj)
• TREBA  nam restoran (to us =nam)
• TREBA vam /Vam burek (to you - You = vam/Vam)
• TREBA im mleko (to them = im)

Secondly, because in Serbian this phrase sounds like the passive in deep structure, the noun always takes a subject case, which is Nominative. (A hamburger is needed to/by me = Treba mi hamburger). Therefore, you don't need to change its form, i.e. no declension :) Lovely! Take a look at the previous examples and the words which follow "Treba ... " phrase. No cases, at all:

1. hamburger - a hamburger
2. pica - a pizza
3. vino - a wine
4. muzika - music
5. restoran - a restaurant
6. burek - burek (a special kind of pie)
7. mleko - milk

One of my favourite parts of a language lesson is when my students can speak in Serbian on their own. That's why I enjoy creating digital teaching materials to help them with visual prompts. Here comes one of my recent videos in the speaking practice series covering the topic of weather.

If you are not sure what vocabulary to use, here comes the list of the previous posts with:

• phrases with translation
• listening exercise 
• the video with pronunciation

So you can feel more confident to speak in Serbian while watching the video:



As you can see in the background there's a photo of a season, so you can make more complicated sentences like:

• U jesen obično pada kiša i tmurno je.
• U proleće retko pada sneg (because you can see the snow slide against the spring background). Obično je sunčano i ponekad je kišovito.

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

How do I say my name and address in Serbian?

Gde si sada? = Where are you now?
Do you want to play via the comments page?
I'll ask the first question:
1. Da li si u parkU ?

While there are so many useful tools to check your spelling / grammar / vocabulary / idioms / pronunciation ... for the English language, there are just a few such tools for Serbian (I listed them in the sidebar to the right and I (ir)regularly send them to all the Serbian Activator subscribers).

One of the most useful things a student need, starting from the pre-intermediate level is to know verb collocations. That's why I'll try to connect the verbs and nouns from the previous posts and write a list of the most common collocations for the verb "to see" (videti):

• Verbs and phrases commonly used after "to see"

• Words before "to see"

• Adverbs collocated with "to see"

1. + (ne)jasno (if a + is before the word, it means that the verb "videti" comes before that word. For example : videti + (ne)jasno = + (ne)jasno)
2. jedva + 
3. odjednom + (commonly in the past tense: odjednom sam video)
4. tačno + 
5. + kristalno-jasno
6. slabo +

Common Phrases in Serbian

I am sure you liked the previous post where you could practice  pronouncing "Laku noć" which means "Good night". Today we are going to practice saying "Dobro jutro" or "Good morning" with this fun commercial:



It is actually based on a well known song by Bajaga, called "Dobro jutro, džezeri".
Džezeri is short for "jazz players", but in this ad this word is changed to "džezVeri", because the word "đezva" or "džezva" means a specific coffee pot, like this one:

Today we are learning two simple phrases in Serbian:


For the pronunciation and additional exercises, check out my Patreon blog :)

Here come the second part of the idioms and phrases with the verb "nositi":

• Koja kokoš mnogo kokodače, malo jaja nosi = he who talks much, does little; the ass that brays most, eats least

• Nositi svoj krst = to bear one's own share of suffering; to bear one's cross

Example 3: Ivan Ivanović: “Svako nosi svoj krst!” (from WannaBeMagazine)

• Nositi se mišlju = to intend to do something; to toy with an idea

Example 5: Pošto moja naknada za održavanje trudnoće i dalje kasni (5 meseci), ja se nosim mišlju da u sledećoj trudnoći žešće zloupotrebim sistem, jer ovo zaista nema smisla. Idući put ću da otvaram i zatvaram bolovanje do 30 dana sve do 28 dana pred porođaj -- onda niko neće moći da me vuče za nos kao sada.  (from BeBac forum)

Example 6: "Ne nosim se mišlju da su gradjani Krusevca rasisti.Nasim gradom slobodno se krecu prpadnici svih manjna pa i oni koji se razlikuju po boji..." (from a FaceBook page)

Here comes another listening comprehension for more proficient Serbian language learners, based on the following video:


Feel free to pause the video and try to answer the following questions:

1. Koliko Mićko ima godina ?
2. Šta se Mićku zapali i pukne ?
3. Koliko časova hemije mu treba ?
4. Zašto profesor hemije ne može da pomogne Mićku ?
5. Šta profesorka hemije predlaže sve vreme ?
6. Da li on sam upotrebljava ono što pravi ?
7. Ko je nepoverljiv prema Mićku ?
8. Koliko profesora hemije je Mićko do sada pozvao ? 
9. Odakle Mićko više ne izlazi ?

1. ...jel' tu spadaju travnate površine ?
2. ... malo sam nagoreo
3. ... i ja sam posle miran dva dana
4. Završio sam ja s hemijom !
5. ...ja ne bih to više čačkao
6. ...jer kad sam video u kom pravcu sve ovo ide, pravo da Vam kažem, šta mi drugo preostaje ?

I've recently received a very practical question : how to call for help in Serbian and  what to say in case of  an accident / theft and similar. So, let me give you a few ideas for three different topics, which hopefully you won't need at all:

• Policija / milicija (police)

1. Policajac (police officer)
2. Advokat (lawyer)
3. Prestup (violation)
4. Prekršaj (offence)
5. Zovite policiju ! (call the police)

• Prolbemi

1. Novčanik (wallet)
2. Lopov (thief)
3. Provalnik (burglar)
4. Izgubljene stvari (lost property)
5. Ukrasti (to steal)
6. Izgubiti (to lose)
7. Zaboraviti (to forget)
8. Zaboravio sam ključ (I forgot my key)
9. Izgubio sam ključ (I lost my key)
10. Neko mi je ukrao pare / novac (Somebody stole my money)
11. Upomoć ! (Help)

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:

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

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

If you've been following SerbianLessons pages on this blog, you've probably noticed that there is a growing number of Serbian online courses which I am adding there.

Why do you need a course ?

• Because you need a clear step-by-step guidance, and that is exactly what you get when you enroll one of the courses.
• Because you need an easily accessible site where you can easily refer back to the videos from the previous lessons, as well as to the videos of upcoming sessions in order to prepare for the online sessions in advance. By joining one of my courses, you are granted unlimited access and downloading option to all the MP4s, MP3s and PDFs.

What do you learn ?

• All my courses are goal oriented - each lesson is organized in such a way that you learn to understand/say something useful, inspired by everyday situations. 

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)

• 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

• 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":

Since there was a comment from someone asking for months in Serbian, Cyrillic version, I am currently adding up all the material (follow Marina's courses - Vocabulary and Phrases) I have posted on this blog and the power point slides I've been using in my online teaching onto my SkolaSrpskog.com site. After each post, I added as many links to either pronunciation or cyrillic version as I have found so far.
pozz = pozdrav
ps. април = april

Here comes a  set of commonly used phrases when talking about money and banks:

1. Trošiti novac (imperfective) // potrošiti (perfective) = to spend (money)
2. Dobijati (imp) // dobiti (perf) = to get 
3. Skupljati (imp) // skupiti (perf) = to collect
4. Bacati (imp) // baciti (perf)= to throw
5. Štedeti (imp) // uštedeti  (perf)= to save (money)
6. Davati (imp)// dati (perf) = to give
7. Pozajmljivati (imp) // pozajmiti  (perf)= to borrow/lend
8. Zarađivati (imp) // zaraditi (perf) = to earn

Rešenje i prevod:

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 ;-)

From the very first lesson, one gets to learn that funny "se" in the sentence: "Zovem se... " (My name is...). Often times it doesn't mean anything, or simply isn't translated into English. That's why you need to do a lot of exercises to get accustomed to this form. 

Serbian 301 - Word Order with SE

Let's start with the first exercise where you simply need to say how much these sentences are true for you. Try using the following phrases:

• Takođe
• Isto
• Ponekad
• Uglavnom 
• Nikada 

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.