Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Demo lesson of Serbian at Egyp TESOL Conference

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Questions and conjugations in Serbian

Present tense verb conjugations
-AM group ("-am" for 1st person Sg)

1. Kada obično ručaš? Obično ručam u tri.
When do you usually have lunch - I usually have lunch at 3.
KADA = when
RUČATI = have lunch/dinner

2. Kada obično večeraš? Obično večeram u 7.
When do you usually have dinner? I usually have dinner at 7.
OBIČNO - usually
VEČERATI = have dinner/supper

3. Gde obično večeraš? Večeram u kuhinji.
Where do you usually have dinner? I have dinner in the kitchen.
GDE = where
KUHINJA = kitchen (u kuhinjI- in the kitchen)

4. Gde obično gledaš televiziju? Ne gledam televiziju.
where do you usually watch TV? I don't watch TV.
GLEDATI = to watch
TELEVIZIJA = television (gledam televizijU)

5. Koliko često čitaš knjige? Čitam knjige vikendom, kad imam vremena.
How often do you read books? I read books at weekends, when I have time.
KOLIKO ČESTO = how often
ČITATI = read
KNJIGE = books
VIKEND = weekend (vikendOM = at weekends)
IMATI = to have (imaM = I have)
VREME = time (imam vremena = I have time)

All the verbs in this group have these endings:

I = JA PEVAM - am,
YOU = TI PEVAŠ - aš,
HE,
SHE,
IT, = ON, ONA, ONO PEVA -

WE = MI PEVAMO - mo
YOU = VI PEVATE - te
THEY = ONI-ONE-ONA PEVAJU - ju

other verbs from this group:
čekati, čitati, duvati, gledati, igrati, imati, izgledati, mešati, obožavati, padati

A good idea for an exercise:
Use the first 5 sentences and start each one with
a. On
b. Mi
c. Vi
d. Oni

-IM group - Video practice:


Monday, October 26, 2009

Numbers in Serbian

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Father - Tata



TATA

Tata (dad =father)
Tatin tata (dad's dad = grandfather)
Tatinog tate tata (dad of dad's dad = great grandfather)
Tatinog tate tatin tata (dad's dad of dad's dad great-great grandfather)
Tatinog tate tatin tata tata (dad's dad of dad's dad dad - whatever)
Sto komada tata (a hundred of dads)
Dok se rodi jedan (until one ('tata-mata') is born)
Tata-mata. (any ideas how to translate 'tata-mata'?)

by Dušan Radović

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Monolingual Serbian online dictionary

Serbian - Serbian and working!
VOKABULAR.ORG



Here is the fun one where you can add your own (fun) definition:
VUJAKLIJA.COM





Which is your favourite online/offline dictionary?

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Exercise your tenses in Serbian :D

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Conjugations of Most Common Serbian Verbs

Listen to this song and fill in the gaps:






















<br /> <br /> Živeti, pitati, raditi, ići, znati, biti<br /> <br />














































Živeti, pitati, raditi, ići, znati, biti




Gap-fill exercise












Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!
























Što me kako

Što me kako ja
kako i šta
to dobro , to dobro !

Što me kuda idem ja
kuda i šta
to dobro znaš, to dobro !

Što me dal sam srećna ja
dal srećna, i šta ,
to dobro , to dobro znaš!

























































Saturday, August 08, 2009

Parafraza I by Miroslav Antić

Predeli, predeli, predeli
vredeli, vredeli, vredeli.

Predeli, predeli, predeli
bledeli, bledeli, bledeli.

Predeli, predeli, predeli
u mestu sedeli, sedeli…

Predeli, predeli, predeli
u sedenju osedeli.

***Advanced Serbian with poems by Miroslav Antić ******

1. predeo (Sg. Masc.) - predeli (pl.) = landscape
2. vredeo (verb in the past agreeing with sg. masc.) - vredeli (verb in the past agreeing with sg. masc.) - be worth something
3. bledeo (v. agreeing with sg. masc.)- bledeli (v. agreeing with pl. masc.)= fade out
4. u mestu (mesto - sg. neut.)= in one place
5. sedeo (v. agreeing with sg. masc.)- sedeli (v. agreeing with pl. masc.)= sit down
6. sedeti is a verb , sedenje is a gerund =sitting, u sedenju = while sitting
7. osedeti is a verb meaning 'grow gray' - osedeli ((v. agreeing with pl. masc.)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Listening comprehension exercise in Serbian



Listen to this short reportage on the statue of Rocky in a Serbian village.

Then read the following questions and try to answer them:


MINUTES> 00:00 - 00:22

1. Where is the statue being made?

2. What will happen in August?

MINUTES> 00:22 - 00:36

3. When did the sculptor begin his work?

4. When is he going to finish?

MINUTES> 00:55 - 01:12

5. Where is the sculptor from?

6. Whose idea was it to make the statue?

MINUTES> 01:09 - 01:39

7. Where is Bojan from ?

8. What is Bojan's plan?

MINUTES> 01:40 - 01:50

9. Who made the first statue of Rocky?

10. How many such statues are there in the world?

MINUTES> 01:56 - 02:15

11. What is Zoran Batic talking about?

12. How many internet sites does he mention?


MINUTES> 02:25 - 02:35

13. What will the statue be made of?

14. How much will the statue weigh?

Monday, July 20, 2009

Useful vocabulary pages in Serbian

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

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, July 15, 2009

Singular and Plural in Serbian


Neki ljudi svoje kućne ljubimce posmatraju kao decu.

1. NEKI - some
2. LJUDI - people
3. SVOJ - possesive pronoun like my/your /his /her/its /our/your /their, used when the possesion refers to the subject
4. KUĆNI LJUBIMAC - pet
5. POSMATRATI - to watch, regard as, think of
6. KAO - as, like (there is no distinction between AS and LIKE in Serbian)
7. DECA - children


PA...TATA, IMAŠ LI TESTAMENT?

1. PA... - well...
2. TATA - dad
3. IMATI - to have
4. LI - used for question forms in all tenses
5. TESTAMENT - the will (a legal declaration of a person's wishes as to the disposition of his or her property or estate after death, usually written and signed by the testator and attested by witnesses)


Translation:
Some people regard their pets as children.
Well, daddy, do you have the will ?

Practice. FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR Singular - Plural Exercise

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