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Showing posts sorted by date for query word order. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query word order. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Word Order in Serbian - Future Tense

This is the third part of the series of  blog posts about the word order or  "red reči" in a Serbian sentence. I covered the word order in the present tense and past tense and today's topic is the future tense. If you find the letter  N next to the sentence, it means that it is the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:





One word verb: pevati (to sing)

Future tense of PEVATI (to sing):   "I'll sing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

  • Pevaću. N
  • Ja ću pevati
  • Ti ćeš igrati, a ja ću pevati. N 
  • Sedećeš i slušaćeš, a ja ću pevati. N 
  • Prijatelji su čuli kako ću pevati na koncertu. N 
  • Priznajem da ću  pevati na koncertu. N

S + P +  direct object (dO)
  • Pevaću pesmu. N
  • Ja ću pevati  pesmu.
  • Čuće oni kako ću im otpevati  pesmu.  N (im= njima= to them, indirect object)
  • Svi su čuli da ću  pevati tu pesmu. N

S  + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

  • Pevaću pesme svaki dan. N
  • Svaki dan ću pevati pesmu. N
  • Moji prijatelji su pitali kada ću pevati pesmu sledeći put. N

S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)
  • Pevaću  pesmu svaki dan  kod kuće.  N
  • Pevaću pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. n
  • Svaki dan ću pevati pesmu kod kuće. N
  • Kod kuće svaki dan ću pevati pesmu. 
  • Moje komšije će sutra čuti zašto ću kod kuće pevati pesmu. N
  • Moje komšije će čuti zašto ću  pevati pesmu za nedelju dana kod kuće. N
  • Moje komšije će igrati uz iks-boks dok ću ja pevati pesme uz xbox kod kuće za nedelju dana. N

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Word order in Serbian Sentences in the Simple Past

In one of the previous blog posts about the "red reči" in a Serbian sentence, I covered the word order in the present tense and it's time to talk about the past simple. Don't forget that the letter  N is used for the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:

One word verb: pevati (to sing)

Past tense OF "I sang / I was singing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

  • Pevao / pevala sam. N
  • Ja sam pevao/pevala
  • Ti si igrao, a ja sam pevala. N 
  • Ti si igrao i ja sam pevala. N 
  • Komšije su čule kako sam pevala. N
  • Priznajem da sam pevala. N






















S + P +  direct object (dO)
  • Pevala sam pesmu. N
  • Ja sam pevala pesmu.
  • (not neutral, but rather poetic word order would be: Pesmu sam pevala / Ja sam pesmu pevala. / pesmu pevala sam ja (reminded me of "zaboravio sam jutros pesmu jednu ja" - watch the video)
  • Čuješ da sam otpevala  pesmu.  N
  • Svi su čuli da sam pevala pesmu. 

S  + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

  • Pevala sam pesmu svaki dan. N
  • Svaki dan sam pevala pesmu. N
  • Moji prijatelji su juče čuli kada sam pevala pesmu. N


    S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)
    • Pevala sam  pesmu svaki dan  kod kuće.  N
    • Pevala sam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
    • Svaki dan sam pevala pesmu kod kuće. N
    • Kod kuće svaki dan sam pevala pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije su juče čule kada sam kod kuće pevala pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije su čule  kada sam  pevala pesmu pre nedelju dana kod kuće. N
    • Moje komšije su igrale uz iks-boks dok sam pevala pesme kod kuće pre nedelju dana. N

    Monday, August 12, 2013

    Word order in Serbian

    Although there's this widespread view (uvreženo mišljenje) that the word order in Serbian is "free", in order to form sentences which sound natural, there are lots of rules to follow... which doesn't make it free at all ! But don't panic! The more you listen  to the Serbian language, the easier it'll be for you to make sentences in the most natural way. Learning the set of rules, can only inhibit you if you don't learn / listen to the target language on a daily basis. That's why I'll simply give you lots of examples with different verb patterns through different tenses, but today I'll just focus on the Simple Present  affirmative in simple and compound sentences. I'll add the letter N for the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:

    One word verb: pevati (to sing)

    Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."

    Subject (S) + predicate (P)

    • Pevam. N
    • Ja pevam
    • Ti igraš, a ja pevam. N 
    • Ti igraš i ja pevam. N 
    • Komšije su čule kako pevam. N
    • Priznajem da pevam. N
    S + P +  direct object (dO)
    • Pevam pesmu. N
    • Ja pevam pesmu.
    • (not neutral, but rather poetic word order would be: Pesmu pevam / Ja pesmu pevam. / pesmu pevam ja - I'll skip adding all these specific / emphasis based but not commonly used word orders in the future and stick with N(neutral) and OK (when I don't add any comment))
    • Čuješ da pevam pesmu.  N
    • Svi čuju da ja pevam pesmu. 

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

    • Pevam pesmu svaki dan. N
    • Svaki dan pevam pesmu. N
    • Moji prijatelji svaki dan čuju kada pevam pesme. N


      S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)
      • Pevam pesmu svaki dan  kod kuće.  N
      • Pevam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
      • Svaki dan pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
      • Kod kuće svaki dan pevam pesmu. N
      • Moje komšije svaki dan čuju kada kod kuće pevam pesmu. N
      • Moje komšije svaki dan čuju kada  pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
      • Moje komšije igraju uz iks-boks dok ja pevam pesme kod kuće svaki dan. N

      Saturday, March 02, 2013

      Learn Serbian 365 Days with Songs and Poems- Day 19



      Although this poem is not written by a Serbian, but a Russian poet, I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Rade Šerbedžija, our renowned actor, and his uniqe interpretation :)

      This poem is perfect for getting to know the verb "to wait" and its

      • imperative form "čekaj"
      • the pronouns following it "čekaj + me"
      • the word order: Čekaj me vs. Samo me čekaj dugo
      • parts of speech: čekati (infinitive) čekanje (noun)
      • conjugations

      Monday, February 25, 2013

      Learn Serbian Language 365 Days by Watching Youtube

      I'm sure you enjoyed my last post about Poletarac ! Bilo je zabavno, zar ne ? Today, I'd like to remind you of four great interviews with foreigners living in Serbia, which I posted last year:
      They share their view of many different aspects of life and I'm sure you'll enjoy watching them, as well as  doing some extra exercises and video lessons:

      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 ...

      Friday, February 12, 2010

      Adverbs, Adjectives and Nouns in Serbian - Word Order

      The Serbian language has fairly free word order because of its numerous suffixes for various categories. Let's see how to rephrase the sentences from the post on Adjectives and Nouns introducing an Adverb 'zaista', which means ''really''.

      Formula:
      This + BE + (article which doesn't exist in Serbian) really + Adj + Noun
      Noun + BE + really + Adj

      adjectives: LEP / JAK / VISOK / VELIK / SKUP
      a.
      Ovo je zaista lepa knjiga = Ovo je lepa knjiga zaista = Zaista ovo je lepa knjiga = Zaista lepa je knjiga ovo.*

      b. Knjiga je
      zaista lepa = Knjiga je lepa zaista = Zaista knjiga je lepa = Zaista lepa je knjiga.*
      *less common word orders
      1. ___________ momak. (young man)
      2. ___________ automobil. (car)
      3. ___________ nos. (nose)
      4. ___________ zgrada. (building)
      5. ___________ kuća. (house)
      6. ___________ sto. (table)
      7. ___________ torba. (bag)
      8. ___________ dete. (child)
      9. ___________ zrno. (grain)

      Monday, November 17, 2008

      Asking Yes/No questions 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(

      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