Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

Friday, December 10, 2010

Present Simple Conjugation in Serbian

Verb ''nositi''
= to wear + nouns
(this time Feminine only )

******with Fem. Plural nouns:
CIPELE =shoes
PANTALONE = trousers
FARMERKE = jeans
ČARAPE = socks

****** with Fem. Singular nouns:
HALJINA = dress
MAJICA = T-shirt
KOŠULJA = shirt
SUKNJA = dress

Practise: NOSIM... / NE NOSIM.... (I wear/I don't wear)

Šta nosiš kada ideš na posao ?
= What do you wear when you go to work ?

Šta nosiš kada ideš u školu ?
= What do you wear when you go to school ?



You can download the slides from www.lewinow.com

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Pronunciation of the Verb To Be in Serbian

Conjugation of To Be in Serbian

----------Present Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja sam
Ti si
On je
Ona je
Mi smo
Vi Ste
Oni/one/ona su
---------------Past Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja sam bio/bila
Ti si bio/bila
On je bio
Ona je bila
Ono je bilo
Mi smo bili(masc)/bile(fem)/bila (neuter)
Vi ste bili(masc)/bile(fem)/bila (neuter)
Oni su bili(masc)
One su bile(fem)
Ona su bila (neuter)
---------------------Future Tense of the verb TO BE - BITI in Serbian
Ja ću biti
Ti ćeš biti
On će biti
Ona će biti
Ono će biti
Mi ćemo biti
Vi ćete biti
Oni/one/ona će biti

Don't forget to check:

Passive Voice in Serbian

in The Passive Voice is not widely used in the Serbian language. That's why it doesn't have some special morphological means to express it, but uses the following:

1. Auxiliary + passive participle (-n/-t endings)
Stolica je polomljeNA. = The chair is broken.

2. Reflexive forms (impersonal structures with the impersonal pronoun 'se')
Novine se štampaju svaki dan. = Newspapers are printed every day.

3. Active forms (passive in deep structure)
Ovde piše da ... = It is written (Someone has written) that ...

Since the first structure is called 'Passive Voice' in Serbian, let's practise it!

Turn the following sentences into the Passive (I'm using only -N endings)
RULE: TO BE * + Infinitive Stem (usually) or Present Stem (prezentska osnova)** and -N suffixe
Sg. Fem. -na
Sg. Masc. -n
Sg. Neuter -no
Pl. Fem. -ne
Pl. Masc. -ni
Pl. Neuter -na

EXAMPLE:
I ate a hamburger= Ja sam pojeo hamburger.
Hamburger je pojeden.

1. Mi smo primili pismo.
2. Sonja je ispravila imeil.
3. Ja sam popila vodu.
4. Sestra je istukla brata.
5. Marko je zaprosio Anu.

Listen!
--------
* TO BE (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su)
** Present Stem is formed by omitting the suffix in the Present Simple third person plural

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Telling Time In Serbian


What's the time ? Koliko je sati ?


11.00 Tačno (je) jedanaest sati. Jedanaest je sati.
12.05 Dvanaest i pet. Dvanaest i pet minuta.
01.10 Jedan i deset.
02.15 Dva i petnaest.
03.20 Tri i dvadeset.
04.25 Četiri i dvadeset pet.
05.28 Pet i dvadeset osam.
06.30 Šest i trideset. Pola sedam.
07.35 Sedam i trideset pet. Dvadeset pet do osam.
08.37 Osam i trideset sedam. Dvadeset tri do devet.
09.40 Devet i četrdeset. Dvadeset do deset.
10.45 Petnaest do jedanaest.
10.50 Deset do jedanaest.
11.55 Pet do dvanaest.

This text used to have a few mistakes which are recorded in this video. Can you spot them in the video?
For more details about numbers check out this link.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Practise Personal Pronouns in Serbian

Pronoun for the First Person Plural:
WE = mi

mi
nas (from us)
nama (to us)
nas (us)
mi
s nama (with us)
o nama (about us)

Possessive Adjective for the
First Person Plural:
OUR = naš
Singular
Fem. naša sestra
Masc. naš brat
Neuter. naše dete

Plural
Fem. našE sestrE
Masc. našA braćA
Neuter. našA decA

Now, enjoy listening to this 'ancient' song and filling the gaps:



Ljubav _______ (to us) više nije prijatelj
ponekad svrati ___________ (only) kao gost
zašto se ljubav gubi _________ (without) traga
__________ (my) draga?

Do juče smo se lepo __________ (we lied)
i verovali slepo u ________ __________ (that lie)
____________ (why) se ljubav gubi bez traga
moja ________________ (darling)?

Chorus:

_________ (where) je sad tvoj Beograd
gde _________ (is) sad moj Beograd
_________ _______ (where is) sad tvoj Beograd
a gde _______ (are) sada _____ (you)
a gde _______ (am) sada ______ (I) ?


Sreća nam _________ (more) nije dobar drug
sa __________ (us) trči poslednji put
zašto se ljubav ___________ (it disappears) bez traga
________ (my) draga?

Sad život __________ (our) ne vredi kao pre
a i vreme kao da _____________ (to us) izmiče
zašto se ljubav gubi bez ____________ (trace)
___________ (my) draga ?

Chorus

Monday, November 29, 2010

Listening Comprehension Exercise - Weather Phrases in Serbian

Jot down the Serbian phrases you hear:

Listen!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Serbian For Beginners, Perica At School

Perica: Učiteljice, nisam zaslužio da mi date keca na kontrolnom zadatku!

Učiteljica: U pravu si, ali manje nisam mogla da ti dam!

Listen!

*** v o c a b u l a r y ***

1. učiteljica = teacher
2. zaslužiti da = deserve to (nisam zaslužio - I haven't deserved)
3. mi (meni) = me (to me)
4. dati = give
5. kec (sl.) = failing grade (one)
6. na kontrolnom zadatku = in the test
7. u pravu si = you are right
8. ali =but
9. manje = fewer/less
10. moći = can (nisam mogla = I couldn't)

*** a u d i o ***

*** practice ***
Verb ZASLUŽITI (deserve) - Write the negative form of the verb:

ja=I
Zaslužio sam =__________ zaslužio
Zaslužila sam = __________ _________

ti=you
Zaslužio si =__________ _________
Zaslužila si =__________ _________

on/ona = he/she
Zaslužio je =__________ _________
Zaslužila je = __________ _________

mi= we
Zaslužili smo = __________ _________
Zaslužile smo =__________ _________

vi = you
Zaslužili ste= __________ _________
Zaslužile ste= __________ _________

oni/one/ona = they
Zaslužili su=__________ _________
Zaslužile su =__________ _________
Zaslužila su =__________ _________

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Serbian for Beginners, Jokes about Perica


Perica: Mama, rekao sam ti sto puta da ne volim sir s rupama!
Mama: Ti onda jedi sir, a rupe ostavi.
********AUDIO************
I told you = rekao sam ti (Masc.)rekla sam ti (Fem.)
Hundred times = sto puta
I don't like/love = ne volim
cheese = sir
with = s
holes = rupe (with holes = s rupama)

Monday, November 15, 2010

Serbian Verb Conjugations Free Listening Exercise

Vino točim
by Miroslav Ilić



Exercise 1: Write down the conjugations of the verbs below
Past Tense for First Person Sg. Masculine of the following verbs:

SRESTI = meet
ZNATI = know
ŽELETI = want
DATI = give


Exercise 2: Present Tense for First Person Singular of the following verbs:

TOČITI = pour
PITI = drink
KRITI = hide
LJUBITI = kiss
GUBITI = lose, waste

Exercise 3: Negative form of 'there is'

Exercise 4: Present Tense for Third Person Singular of the following verbs:

KRITI = hide
UZDISATI = sigh
ČUVATI = save/take care of
MIRISATI = smell

Now, check your answers:

Ja sam do sad mnoge žene _____________ (I met)
al' za ljubav ipak nisam _____________ (I knew)
ljubio sam sve sto sam _______________ (I wanted)
al' sam samo tebi srce _______________ (I gave)

ljubio sam sve sto sam _______________ (I wanted)
al' sam samo tebi srce _______________ (I gave)

Chorus 2x

Vino ____________ (I'm pouring), a vino __ ________________ (I'm not drinking)
srce imam, osećanja __________________ (I'm hiding)
usne imam, al' koga ___ _______________ (to kiss (I))
kad si s drugim, a ja mladost _________________ (I'm wasting)



_____________ (there's no) vina da mi bole smiri
_____________ (there's no) pesme da srce umiri
_____________ (there's no) noči da mi oči sklopi
hej ljubavi, ti mi dušu opi
_____________ (there's no) noči da mi oči sklopi
hej ljubavi, ti mi dušu opi

Chorus 2x

Što se ljubi kad se ljubav ______________ (is hiding)
što se voli kad srce ____________________ (is sighing)
što se čuva cvece najmilije ______________ (is saving/taking care of)
kad ga drugi bere i _______________ ((he) smells)


Chorus 2x

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Future Tense in Serbian - exercise



Future Tense in Serbian

RULE: infinitive stem + Future tense suffix, depending on the person

Future Tense suffixes:
-ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će

Example: to sing=pevati ---> peva+ćeš

Now, you do the same for the first (I= ja) and second person singular (you=ti) for these verbs:

to have = imati
to play = igrati
to kiss = ljubiti
to be = biti

Great! Now, listen to this song and check your answers:


______________ (You'll have) ih mnogo _______________ (you'll play) se njima
______________ (You'll kiss) ih mnogo ali ne daj se baš svima
U ponoć _____________ (I'll be) tu i _____________ (I'll kiss) te tad
U ponoć poželi tvoj deda-mraz sam ______ (I).


Nove godine zato _______________ (are coming)
Nove godine u pravi čas za ______ (us).

Nove __________ (years) zato dolaze
Nove __________ (years) u pravi čas za nas.

______________ (You'll have) ih mnogo _______________ (you'll play) se njima
______________ (You'll kiss) ih mnogo ali ne daj se baš svima
U ponoć _____________ (I'll be) tu i _____________ (I'll kiss) te tad
U ponoć poželi tvoj deda-mraz sam ______ (I).


Chorus

Chorus

Monday, November 01, 2010

Jesen = Autumn

Autumn (jesen)

Nestalo je __________ (leto), došla jesen _________ (žut),
Nema više veća kraj _________________ (šuma) i puta.

A ptičice __________ (mali) otišle su ____________ (jug),
Nema više __________ (pesma) u ____________ (šuma) i lugu.

Ništa zato _________________ (deca),
Jesen će ____________ (mi) proći
Onda će ____________ (mi) opet
______________ (white) zima doći.

Pre-teach "nestalo je"

1-brašno (flour)

Nestalo je brašna

2-mleko (milk)

Nestalo je mleka

3-šećer (sugar)

Nestalo je šećera

4-benzin (petrol)

Nestalo je šećera

5-voda (water)

Nestalo je vode

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