Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Little Library in Serbian

Listening comprehension , Serbian literature
Little Library in Serbian



As you probably know, extensive reading and listening are the best way to learn a language easily and naturally. That's why I'd like to invite all the readers of this blog to become regular followers/listeners of this precious site:www.malabiblioteka.com. I am sure you'll enjoy building up your listening and reading skills by simply flicking through its colourful pages.

Uživajte!
Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels: ,

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Nouns with Prefixes in Serbian

Noun Prefixes , Prefixes in Serbian
Nouns with Prefixes in Serbian
Srpske imenice sa prefiksima

1. BEZ- (meaning of this prefix: 'without')
n.p. (e.g.) beskućnik, bezakonje, bezvlašće

2. ZA- (meaning of this prefix is 'behind')
n.p. zavetrina, zauške, zapećak

3. MEĐU- (meaning 'between', both for time and space)
n.p. međusprat, međuprostor, međuigra

4. NA- (meaning 'on')
n.p. načelnik (head of the dept/institution, literally '0n forehead person'), narečje (dialect)

5. NAD - ('above')
n.p. nadvojvoda, nadbiskup, nadstrešnica

6. NE- ('non')
n.p. neznanje (znanje=knowledge), neuspeh (uspeh=success)

7. NUZ- ('additional')
n.p. nusprostorija, nuspojava

8. PO- ('after, afterwards', 'adoptive')
n.p. pogovor, ponedeljak (after Sunday), pomajka, pobratim, poglavlje, poslastica

9. POD- ('under or sub')
n.p. podnaslov (subtitle), potkošulja (vest), podstanar (tenant), podsvest (subconsciousness)

10. PRA- ('ancestry')
n.p. prababa (great grandma), pradeda (great grandpa), pračovek ('prehistoric man')

11. PRED- ('before', 'front')
n.p. predstraža, predjelo, predvečerje

12. PRI- ('close, near')
n.p. primorje (coastal = close to the see (more)), prikolica, prikrajak, priručnik

13. PROTIV- ('against')
n.p. protivnapad, protivprimer, protivteža, protivusluga

14. RAZ- ('dividing')
n.p. razdoblje, raskršće (krst =cross, crossroads)

15. SA- ('together or with')
n.p. saputnik (putnik=passenger, companion), saborac, sazvučje

16. SU- (similar to 'SA-')
n.p. suosnivač=saosnivač (cofounder), sugrađanin, suvlasnik, suvozač (or nowadays borrowed 'KO', as in kopilot (copilot), koatuor (coauthor)...)

17. U- ('in')
n.p. ukućanin (living 'in house'), ukosnica

18. UZ- (similar to 'along or with')
n.p. uzrečica, uzglavlje

19. O- ('about, around', or sometimes used without any specific meaning)
n.p. ogrlica, okučnica, opušak, ogranak
Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels: ,

Monday, June 07, 2010

"Nepostojano a" in Serbian Adjectives

nepostojano A , Serbian adjectives
"Nepostojano a" in Serbian Adjectives
''Nepostojano a'' (movable, or fleeting 'a' ) with adjectives :

Masculine - Feminine - Neuter

... čovek (man) - ... žena (woman) - ... dete (child)

dobar čovek - dobra žena - dobro dete (good)

hitar - hitra - hitro (fast)

čudan - čudna - čudno (funny, strange)

važan - važna - važno (important)

ogroman - ogromna - ogromno (huge, enormous)

tanak - tanka - tanko (thin)

šupalj - šuplja - šuplje (hollow)


šuplje drvo
Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels: ,

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Declension in Serbian - Plural, practice

Serbian Noun Declension practice ,
Declension in Serbian - Plural, practice
Ovo je prodavnica igracaka. Pogledajte, imamo veliki izbor! Mozete kupiti sta god pozelite za svoje dete:

brod-1, auto -2, cekic -3, lutka-4, kompjuter-5, kockica-6, knjiga-7, maketa aviona -8, karta-9, bojica-10, traktor -11

(now write the appropriate plural forms of the following nouns - boat, car, hammer, doll, computer, builiding block, book, model plane, card, coloured pencil, tractor ...)
Read more »
By at 1 comment:
Labels:

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Noun Declensions in Serbian - practice

Serbian Noun Declension practice ,
Noun Declensions in Serbian - practice
Imam _______1_______ (prijatelj) koji živi u ______2_______ (Italija). On je _____3_______ (doktor) po zanimanju. Prošle _______4_____ (godina) sam prolazio kroz _____5_____ (Italija) i odlučio sam da ga posetim. Hteo sam da ga iznenadim, pa sam ga pozvao _____6_____ (telefon). Kada sam čuo njegov _____7_____(glas), rekao sam: " ______8______ (doktor) i ______9_____ (prijatelj), izgubio sam se u ovoj prelepoj _____10_____(zemlja), mislim da se zove ______11____ (Italija)." On se samo nasmejao i odgovorio:" Ako si ti moj _____12______ (prijatelj) iz ____13______ (Srbije), onda svrati na ___14______ (kafa). Živim u visokoj _____15______ (zgrada) na ___16______ (ugao), u ____17_______ (stan) na poslednjem _____18______ (sprat). Ako se opet izgubiš, stvarno ti treba _______19________ (doktor)."
Read more »
By at 1 comment:
Labels:

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"What's the matter with you?" in Serbian

Serbian idioms ,
"What's the matter with you?" in Serbian


"Koji ti je andrak?" (what's the matter with you? what is wrong with you?) ... a blast from the past ! I was so happy when I came across this phrase which I haven't heard for ages :o) Where do words hide when they grow old?
Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels:

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Noun Declension in Serbian: 1st Declension, part 1

1st Declension , Serbian Noun Declension
Noun Declension in Serbian: 1st Declension, part 1
According to the case suffixes, nouns in Serbian can be grouped into three or four declensions (the order and number hasn't been established yet). I'll list the three most commonly presented ones, starting from the most complex one, which is often subdivided, depending on the noun gender and its stem ending:

1. Declension:

Masculine nouns ending in a consonant
Neuter nouns ending in -o or -e

*Note that Masc. nouns in Sg. Acc. is the same as the Genetive if the noun denotes an 'animate concept', like human being or an animal, while the 'inanimate' ones are objects, but also plants and groups of people or animals (like 'a people'= 'narod' or pack (of wolves)= 'čopor')

** All Neuter nouns have the same form for Nominative, Accusative and Vocative, which is really great :o)

*** With Masc. nouns ending in palatal 'j, lj, nj, č, dž, đ, ć, š, ž'
a/ in Sg. Instrumental case it will end in 'em', instead of 'om'
b/ in Sg. Vocative case it will end in 'u' instead of 'e'

 ANIMATE ANIMATE non-ANIMATE non-ANIMATE
Sing.




non-palatal ending palatal non-palatal palatal ending
Nom DOKTOR PRIJATELJ BROD ČEKIĆ
Gen DOKTOR-A PRIJATELJ-A BROD-A ČEKIĆ-A
Dative DOKTOR-U PRIJATELJ-U BROD-U ČEKIĆ-U
Acc DOKTOR-E PRIJATELJ-A BROD ČEKIĆ
Voc DOKTOR-E PRIJATELJ-U BROD-E ČEKIĆ-U
Inst DOKTOR-OM PRIJATELJ-EM BROD-OM ČEKIĆ-EM
Loc DOKTOR-U PRIJATELJ-U BROD-U ČEKIĆ-U

****The pattern for Plural being the same for all the forms:
Nom DOKTOR-I
Gen DOKTOR-A
Dative DOKTOR-IMA
Acc DOKTOR-E
Voc DOKTOR-I
Inst DOKTOR-IMA
Loc DOKTOR-IMA

*****Elongated Plural can be seen in the majority of one syllable and a good part of two syllable nouns. In the plural they get 'OV' or with palatal ones 'EV':



 Elongated' = longer form
Nom STAN-ov-I
Gen STAN-ov-A
Dative STAN-ov-IMA
Acc STAN-ov-E
Voc STAN-ov-I
Inst STAN-ov-IMA
Loc STAN-ov-IMA

******* Sometimes, if the noun ends in -c, -s, -z or -t, there is an ending in -ev (e.g. vicevi (jokes), nosevi (noses) , putevi (roads) )

Well, as you can see, this is just the beginning of the story about Noun Declensions. If you are learning Serbian, I'd like to ask you if you find it easier to learn the language in this 'grammar oriented' fashion, or simply 'by ear'?
Read more »
By at 2 comments:
Labels: ,

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