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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.


Sunday, December 14, 2008

Dative Case in Serbian

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)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Čika Jova Zmaj - Тихо Ноћи

Sunday, November 23, 2008

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

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.



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(

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A story about Ivan


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...'

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Locative in Serbian

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*******************

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
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