Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Šta vidiš? (What can you see?)

Šta vidiš? (What can you see?)

NOGA = leg, RUKA = arm, KOSA = hair

Vidim...
nogU
noge
vidim... rukU
ruke
Vidim... kosU.

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

OBRAZ = cheek, NOS = nose, OKO= eye

Vidim obraz. Vidim nos. Vidim oko.


To practise Plural forms click SkolaSrpskog

To listen to the pronunciation click our TalkGroup
To practise a little bit on your own, tell me what they can see, and check the answers in our Talk Group. Feel free to record your own answer :o)

Oni vide...
KUĆA (house), DRVO (tree), ZVUČNIK (loudspeaker), KAMERA (video cam), STOLICA (chair), STO (table), DETE (child)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Šta čekaš? Koga čekaš?

Šta čekaš? = What are you waiting for?

Čekam ...
... autobus

... voz

... avion

Koga čekaš? = Who are you waiting for?

TATA= dad, MAMA=mum, ĆERKA= daughter



Čekam tatu.


Čekam mamu.

Čekam ćerku.

PRIJATELJ=friend, BRAT = brother, KONOBAR = waiter

Čekam prijatelja.

Čekam brata.

Čekam konobara.

Now, it's your turn... Who is he waiting for? He is waiting for...

Sada je red na vas... Koga on čeka? On čeka...

baba (granny), deda (grandpa), drug (friend), sestra (sister), šef (boss), dečko (boyfriend), devojka (girlfriend)

For the key, check the comments tomorrow
For the Plural Version, check SkolaSrpskog
For pronunciation, check our Talk Group at VoxoPop

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Šta čuješ ? What can you hear?

Let's learn the following words in context:

piano = taj klavir,
sea = to more,
bell = to zvono,
clock = taj sat,


violin =ta violina
guitar = ta gitara
song = ta pesma


So, let's see what happens with the noun after the verb
HEAR = ČUTI


Šta čuješ? Čujem...
...klavir.


... more
... zvono

... sat

Šta ona čuje? (What can she hear?)
Ona čuje...

... gitaru

... violinu

... pesmu

Now, you try the same with 'ON'' (HE) "Šta on čuje? ..." and record it via VoxoPop

Saturday, August 21, 2010

What is it? Šta je ovo?


It looks like...

Meni izgleda kao neka lopta.
Meni liči na neku loptu.

Meni izgleda kao
kugla sladoleda.
Meni liči na
kuglu sladoleda.

Izgleda mi kao galerija.
Liči mi na galeriju.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Capital Letters in Serbian


Velika slova u srpskom jeziku

The intitial capital letter in Serbian is used for:

1. name, surname and nick name (Nikola Tesla, Josip Broz Tito)
2. nationalities as nouns, but not corresponding adjectives signifying a language or nationality
(Englez - an Englishman, engleski jezik =the English language, engleska zastava= English flag)
3. names of countries, continents, cities (Srbija, Evropa, Beograd)
4. companies, sports associations and edifices (Bambi-Banat, Savezna skupstina, Spartak)
5. wars, battles (Drugi svetski rat = World War II)
6. holidays (Bozic, Uskrs)
7. space objects (Mlecni put, Sunce, Mesec)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Speaking practice with Accusative, Questions and Conjugations

Watch this video and do the following exercises:



Speaking Exercise 1.
***Say the coulours as you see them (key in the comment)
Speaking Exercise 2.
*** Start with simple sentences such as:
''I like (green colour)/I don't like (blue colour)"
= VOLIM ZELENu /NE VOLIM PLAVu
(bear in mind that after this verb you need Accusative case:
plava boja --->plavu boju )
Speaking Exercise 3.
*** Say what you see (videti) "I can see (blue colour)" = VIDIM PLAVu BOJu
Speaking Exercise 4.
*** Ask a question "Can you see blue or green colour?"
a. form > DA LI VIDIŠ PLAVu ILI ZELENu BOJu?
b. form> VIDIŠ LI PLAVu ILI ZELENu BOJu?
--- exercises 3 and 4 include Present Simple Conjugations for the first and second person Singular, but you can make it for the plural and/or Past Simple as well (I'll give you one example in the following exercise)
Speaking Exercise 5.
*** Say what you've seen "I've seen/saw blue colour"
(Fem) VIDELA SAM PLAVu BOJu
(Masc) VIDEO SAM PLAVu BOJu
Speaking Exercise 6.
*** Ask a question in the past :
"Which colour have you seen?"
(Fem) KOJU SI BOJu VIDELA?
(Masc) KOJU SI BOJu VIDEO?
"Did you see blue colour?"
(Fem) DA LI SI VIDELA PLAVu BOJu?
(Masc) DA LI SI VIDEO PLAVu BOJu?

HAVE FUN = UŽIVAJTE

Friday, June 25, 2010

Festival Time soon

The Serbian National Tourist Office has produced a handy mini-dictionary on their webpage:

MINI-DICTIONARY

http://www.srbija.travel/about-serbia/typically-serbian/mini-dictionary/?lang=en

This may be useful for those of you intending to visit Serbia.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

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!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

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

Monday, June 07, 2010

"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

Thursday, June 03, 2010

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 ...)

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

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)."

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