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Sunday, January 02, 2022

Practicing Serbian with Songs - Part 2

Marina serbian songs , Serbian vocabulary

Practicing Serbian with Songs

In the previous blog post you practiced Serbian with the song Donesi vina, krčmarice! Now I am adding the second part to it, a new exercise and a list of words to practice with this song.

Practicing Serbian Word Order with Songs

Practicing Vocabulary Serbian Songs

Doneti = to bring
Donesi = bring! informal
Donesite = bring! formal or plural
Vino = wine
Krčmarica = waitress arch. (Voc. case - krčmarice)
Rumen = red, flush
lice = face
Daj = give! informal
Dajte = give! formal or plural
piti = to drink (pijem = first person sg in present simple)
tuga = sorrow
razbiti = to break, shatter
srce = heart
boleti = to hurt
hteti = to want/ will (hoću, hoćeš, hoće - sg. present simple)
izgoreti = to burn (izgorim, izgoriš, izgori - sg. present simple)
ružica = ruža = rose
oči = eyes
crn = black
žeravica = ember
celo selo = The whole village
zaneti se = to get carried away
svi = everybody
Bog = god
Bože = Voc case of Bog
stvoriti = To create (što je stvori =why have you created her)
mlad = young
momak = young man
mučiti = to torture
moriti = to torture/torment

Exercises with These Words

Match Exercise

Flashcards Exercise

Test Exercise

Serbian 401 - Aspect in Serbian

Marina aspect in Serbian , Serbian 401

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

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)
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

Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension

Marina Listening comprehension , listening comprehension skills

Lazy City can be a great source of teaching materials for learning Serbian. If you are at higher levels of Serbian, I am sure you will enjoy watching the first episode of "Lenji grad" with Stefani and her friends and doing exercises I prepared for you :)

Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension

Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension - Word Order Exercises

Let's practice word order in Serbian - postaviti pravilna pitanja i odgovoriti na njih:

Drugi deo

Serbian 701 - Redosled reči u pitanjima

Marina Listening comprehension , listening comprehension skills

Ako ste na naprednom nivou učenja srpskog, sigurno već uživate prateći vesti iz Srbije i čitajući knjige na srpskom. Danas želim da podelim sa vama jedan zabavan video intervju sa sve popularnijom spisateljicom Lanom.

Kada odslušate video, pokušajte da uradite vežbu redosleda reči (word order exercise) odgovorite na sledeća pitanja

Serbian 301 - Word Order with SE

Marina Serbian 301 , Word order in Serbian

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

Exercise with Word Order with SE

Now, that you are familiar with these sentences, you can easily do the following exercise - putting the words in order. Have fun!

Serbian 102 - Word order with SE

Marina Serbian 102 ,

It can be tricky to learn how to cope with some simple sentences and questions when this "se" word shows up. The best way to cope with it is to practice with a set of familiar phrases:

Word order with SE - Learn

Word order with SE - Flashcards

Word order with SE - Match

Wild Animals in Serbian

Marina animals in Serbian , Serbian vocabulary

Before we start practicing the Accusative and Genitive case with animals, let's learn a set of words in a fun way. This is a drag and drop exercise which will help you learn the words both in the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic script. Have fun! (make sure you pull the word a bit further to the left of the designated square in order for it to "catch" it).

Let's listen to the video lesson where I am playing this game:

I am sure that now you are ready to do the following exercise:

Word Order with Past Tense of To Be

Marina Past tense , past tense in serbian

If you liked the video and the follow-up exercises I recently published, it's time for you to do revise it and practice pronunciation:

Practising Phrases in Serbian - I need

Marina Serbian phrases , Serbian verbs

If you were happy with my short video lesson about the very simple form of the phrase "I need something" yesterday, I am sure you are now ready for a few exercises. Let me start with the easier ones and then I'll add some for more advanced students:

For Beginners: Practising only "Treba mi + different international words"

a. Flashcards

b. Matching game

c. Gravity game

d. Test

For Intermediate students: Practising "Treba + mi/ ti / Vam / mu / joj / nam / im + international words"

a. Flashcards

b. Matching game

c. Gravity game

d. Test

For Advanced students: Practising the past tense form "I needed + something", which is more complicated because here the past tense form of the word has to agree with the direct object (something): "TrebalE su mi jabukE // TrebalI su joj prijateljI // TrebalA nam je vodA" (+ word order with 3rd person Sg of the direct object).

a. Flashcards

b. Matching game

c. Gravity game

d. Test

How to Practice Personal Pronouns through Cases

Marina personal pronouns in Serbian , pronouns in Serbian

If you are familiar with the personal pronouns in Serbian in the Nominative case, it's time for you to their different forms through various cases.

The clever way is to approach these more complicated forms through the texts you've done before, using the pronouns instead of nouns. For example:

If we turn all the nouns into the corresponding pronouns, we would get a fun story:

Želim da kupim njih. = Želim da ih kupim.
Da li imate njih, ali u plavoj boji? = Da li ih imate, ali plave?
Da li možete da mi pokažete nju i njih = Da li možete da mi je pokažete i da mi ih pokažete?
Želim da kupim nju, nju i nju i njih. = Želim da je kupim i želim da ih kupim.

Now I have two questions:

What does each pronoun in bold refer to?
What changes does the word order cause?

However, the easiest way is to learn pronouns is through songs and exercises:

Personal pronouns in the Dative with "Kafu mi draga ispeci"
Personal pronoun "we" in different forms with "Moja draga"
Personal pronouns in the Accusative and possessive adjectives with "Dudo"
Mixed personal pronouns with "Tako mi svega"

Since the courses Serbian 101 and Serbian 102 deal with the following cases:

Nominative (JA - TI/VI - ON - ONA - ON // MI - VI - ONI)
Accusative

in Serbian 102 I introduced the pronouns in the Accusative:

Accusative (MENE / SEBE - TEBE/ VAS - NJEGA - NJU(JE) - NJEGA // NAS - VAS - NJIH)

In Serbian 201 I introduce the pronouns in the Locative and Instrumental case:

Locative ( o MENI/ SEBI - TEBI - VAMA - NJEMU - NJOJ - NJEMU // NAMA - VAMA - NJIMA)
Instrumental (SA MNOM/SOBOM - TOBOM - VAMA - NJIM - NJOM - NJIM // NAMA - VAMA - NJIMA)

and we will practice them together in the next post!

Future Tense in Serbian

Marina future tense in Serbian ,

It's simply not enough to understand how to form the future tense in Serbian and its somewhat complicated word order! You need to practise as much as possible.

Future Tense in Serbian

Future Tense in Serbian with "Ej žalim žalim"

And what an enjoyable practice can it be when you simply sing it! That's why I am focusing today on this beautiful song featuring the future tense in Serbian :)

Short Serbian History - Part One

Marina Serbian History ,

This year I have discovered three real gems for learning Serbian at higher levels:

As I have already written about Naša Snajka and Državni Posao, let me introduce you to "Mala istorija Srbije" series which present Serbian tradition and history in a didactic and lively manner. For example, while watching the first episode you can learn:

until what time it is safe to greet someone saying "dobro jutro"
what "stalni gosti" usually drink
what "srpski političar" looks like
the connotation of the word "stoka"
who can save you on February 24th

Now, how can you learn Serbian while watching these videos?

At first turn off the audio and describe what's going on
When watching the video for the second time, do listen to it and ask as many questions as possible (of course, press pause in order to manage this!). So, the aim is to understand what's going on!
Retell the story using the phrases and vocabulary used by Milena, Lane, Vlasta, Vasić and Žika

Have fun!

Serbian Conjugations in Cyrillic Script

Marina present simple in Serbian , serbian conjugations

If you have always wondered it there were any videos with conjugations in Serbian with the Cyrillic script, here they come :

With this video you can not only pronounce the Simple present conjugations of the verb "zvati se", but you can also practise its word order and asking and answering simple questions in the second part of the video. Which words are missing there ?

What does Verb "Nositi" Mean in Serbian ?

Marina Serbian collocations , Serbian language 365

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

prenositi = to carry over,
preneti dete = to bear a child longer than it is due,
preneti dete preko bare = to carry a child over a puddle

iz- = out of /thoroughly

izneti torbu = to carry out a bag,
iznositi odeću = to wear some clothes for years,
iznošena odeća = worn out clothes

u- = into

uneti torbu u kuću = to bring a bag into a house

s- = downward movement / it also adds perfective aspect (sth. is finished)

snositi posledice = to bear the consequences
snositi troškove školovanja = to bear the cost of tuition fees (for example)

pod - = to

podnositi buku = to bear the noise (Kako možeš da podneseš ovu užasnu buku = How can you bear this awful noise ?)
podneti ostavku = to submit a resignation
podneti poraz = to accept a defeat
podnositi ( vreme / pritisak...) = to withstand (weather conditions / pressure)

od- = signifies the movement from/ out of or in the opposite direction

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 :

Word Order in Serbian - Negation in Present, Part 1.3

Marina Serbian language 365 , Word order in Serbian

If you are following the Word Order in Serbian series of blog posts, you surely remember that the first one was about simple verbs (not -se verbs) in the Present Simple tense. This time, I'll cover the same set of sentences in the same tense, but with their negative forms:

One word verb: NE pevati (not sing)Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Ne pevam. N
Ja ne pevam.
Ti igraš, a ja ne pevam. N
Ti ne igraš i ja ne pevam. N
Profesor je čuo kako ne pevam i dao mi je jedinicu ! N
Priznajem da ne znam da pevam. N

S + P + direct object (dO)

Ne pevam pesmu. N
Ja ne pevam pesmu.
Vidiš li da ne pevam tu pesmu ? N
Svi čuju da ja ne pevam pesmu.

S + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan. N
Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu.
Moji profesori svaki dan vide kada ne uradim domaći. N

S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)

Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan kod kuće. N
Ne pevam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
Kod kuće obično ne pevam pesmu. N
Moje komšije ponekad ne čuju kada kod kuće pevam pesmu. N
Moje komšije obično ne čuju kada pevam pesmu kod kuće. N

Moje komšije ne igraju uz iks-boks dok ja pevam pesme kod kuće svaki dan. N

I admit that this was pretty boring, but it's good to have lots of similar examples in one place :) I promise the next part with questions, short answers and negations will be real fun !

The Meaning of the Verb "slagati se " in Serbian

Marina reflexive verbs in Serbian , Serbian language 365

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"

Word Order in Serbian - Part 5

Marina Serbian language 365 , Serbian online

This part is preparing you to practise word order with the words with the reflexive/impersonal pronoun "se". This time I've chosen only the verbs which are widely used when you talking about important life phases, so all the sentences in the videos will be in the Simple Past:

roditi se = to be born
školovati se = to be schooled
upisati se (u školu / na fakultet) = to enrol (a school / university)
zaposliti se = to start working / to get a job
preseliti se = to move (to another city / country)
kvalifikovati se (za) = to get qualified (for)
venčati se = to get married

After practising telling a story about yourself with these phrases:

...you can try to do the similar one based on my false biography, so you have to make all the sentences in the exercise negative :)

Common Mistakes in Serbian

Marina common mistakes , correcting mistakes

One of the most common mistakes students of Serbian as a foreign language tend to make is to use the verbs of movement "ići " + u, "stići" + u, "vratiti se" + u, "posetiti" with the noun in Dative, instead of Accusative. That's why it's often heard:

Idem u Beogradu (incorrect)

instead of

Idem u Beograd (correct)

In the case of the listed verbs above (ići = to go to/ stići = to arrive at/ vratiti se = to come back to /posetiti = to visit), the noun which follows them is in the Accusative case (so called the Accusative of goal/aim).

That's why I've created this video with which you can make simple sentences such as:

Idem u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple)
Stižem u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple word order)
Posetio sam London /Budimpeštu (Past Simple)
Vraćam se u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple word order with "se")

Word Order in Serbian - Part 4.5

Marina Passive in Serbian , Serbian language 365

Now that you've learnt the introductory song by heart (napamet), you are ready for more examples with the word order of the sentences with reflexive or impersonal "se". This time I'll cover the word order in the Simple Present tense with all three forms, affirmative, negative and questions. So, let's start :

Reflexive -se: oblačiti se (to get dressed) Present tense of OBLAČITI SE is :

Affirmative sentences : Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Oblačim se. N
Ja se oblačim.
Ti se igraš, a ja se oblačim. N
Sedi i gledaj TV dok se ja oblačim. N
Komšije su videle kako se (ja) oblačim u kuhinji. N
Priznajem da se oblačim u kuhinji. N

Negations: Subject (S) + NE + predicate (P)

Ne oblačim se. N
Ja se ne oblačim.
Ti se ne igraš, a ja se ne oblačim. N
Sedi i gledaj TV dok se ja ne oblačem. N
Tvrdila sam da se ne oblačim u kuhinji. N
Priznajem da se ne oblačim u kuhinji. N

Questions: Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Da li se oblačiš ? N
Da li se ti oblačiš ?
Oblačiš li se ?
Jel' se oblačiš ? N
Kada se oblačiš ? N
Kada se ti oblačiš ? N

S + P + AoT(adverb of time) + AoP (adverb of place)

Oblačim se svaki dan u kuhinji. N
Svaki dan se oblačim u kuhinji. N
(I'm not listing all the other combinations as they are not neutral)
Moje komšije su čule da se oblačim u kuhinji svaki dan. N
Moje komšije su čule da se svaki dan oblačim u kuhinji. N
(I'm not listing all the other combinations as they are not neutral)

Word Order with "se" in Serbian

Marina reflexive verbs in Serbian , Serbian language 365

Here comes a gentle introduction to the fourth part of the series of blog posts about the word order in Serbian. Why introduction in the middle of the story ? Because I'm about to write about the verbs with (reflexive) -se: "vratiti se " = "to come back", for example.

Listen to this beautiful song and try to figure out which word is missing in the following lines:

Od Banata prema Sremu nisko oblaci,
noć __ spustila, pa ___ ne vidi...
samo moje misli po ravnici putuju -
ja ih pošaljem al ___ vraćaju...
A ti, a ti ___ nećeš vratiti....
To je bilo davno, pa ___ niko ne seća -
rode nestale jednog proleća...
vratiće __ , kažu ljudi, ove godine...
ove godine il dogodine...
A ti, a ti ___ nećeš vratiti....

REFREN:
Ravno, nigde brda, sve je ravno - ravno mi je sve,
jer u tvome srcu već odavno drugi stanuje...
Ej,kad bi znala ti...(kad bi samo znala ti)
koliko trebaš mi!

Hajde noći tiho, tiše, sitni tonovi,
da ____ nikome to ne ponovi...
bruje zice, srce trne, grom te pogodi-
to ___ dogodi il ne (__) dogodi....
A ti na belom perju zaspi mi...

REFREN

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Sunday, January 02, 2022

Practicing Serbian with Songs

Practicing Serbian Word Order with Songs

Practicing Vocabulary Serbian Songs

Exercises with These Words

Monday, November 08, 2021

Aspect in Serbian - Short Explanation

Aspect in Serbian - Trošiti vs Potrošiti

Aspect in Serbian - Video Exercise

Aspect in Serbian - Word order Exercise

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension

Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension - Word Order Exercises

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Monday, December 14, 2020

Serbian 301 - Word Order with SE

Exercise with Word Order with SE

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Word order with SE - Learn

Word order with SE - Flashcards

Word order with SE - Match

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Future Tense in Serbian

Future Tense in Serbian with "Ej žalim žalim"

Monday, November 24, 2014

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Friday, September 06, 2013

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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