Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Easy Texts in Serbian

easy Serbian , Serbian language 365
Easy Texts in Serbian
Here comes a sample video exercise of a  very basic and simple text in Serbian, much much easier than the previous ones:


 Anyway, I think this is a good example how you can practise making natural sentences in Serbian on your own, simply by reading together with me and supplying the words which are missing. You can also do the follow-up exercise in writing.














Sorry for the poor audio quality - I'll try to fix it somehow !
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Monday, August 12, 2013

Word order in Serbian

Serbian language 365 , Word order in Serbian
Word order in Serbian
Although there's this widespread view (uvreženo mišljenje) that the word order in Serbian is "free", in order to form sentences which sound natural, there are lots of rules to follow... which doesn't make it free at all ! But don't panic! The more you listen  to the Serbian language, the easier it'll be for you to make sentences in the most natural way. Learning the set of rules, can only inhibit you if you don't learn / listen to the target language on a daily basis. That's why I'll simply give you lots of examples with different verb patterns through different tenses, but today I'll just focus on the Simple Present  affirmative in simple and compound sentences. I'll add the letter N for the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:

One word verb: pevati (to sing)

Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."

 Subject (S) + predicate (P)

  • Pevam. N
  • Ja pevam. 
  • Ti igraš, a ja pevam. N 
  • Ti igraš i ja pevam. N 
  • Komšije su čule kako pevam. N
  • Priznajem da pevam. N
S + P +  direct object (dO)
  • Pevam pesmu. N
  • Ja pevam pesmu.
  • (not neutral, but rather poetic word order would be: Pesmu pevam / Ja pesmu pevam. / pesmu pevam ja - I'll skip adding all these specific / emphasis based but not commonly used word orders in the future and stick with N(neutral) and OK (when I don't add any comment))
  • Čuješ da pevam pesmu.  N
  • Svi čuju da ja pevam pesmu. 

S  + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

  • Pevam pesmu svaki dan. N
  • Svaki dan pevam pesmu. N
  • Moji prijatelji svaki dan čuju kada pevam pesme. N


    S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)
    • Pevam pesmu svaki dan  kod kuće.  N
    • Pevam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
    • Svaki dan pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
    • Kod kuće svaki dan pevam pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije svaki dan čuju kada kod kuće pevam pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije svaki dan čuju kada  pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
    • Moje komšije igraju uz iks-boks dok ja pevam pesme kod kuće svaki dan. N
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    Sunday, August 11, 2013

    Warnings in Serbian :)

    Imperatives , Serbian language 365
    Warnings in Serbian :)
    If you ever wondered how to warn someone in Serbian, let me give you a list of phrases, starting from the most formal ones:
    Formal and semi-formal warnings:

    • Dozvoli da te upozorim da ne + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with "Dozvolite da Vas upozorim...)
    • Ono što ja ne bih nikako uradila je da + present (1st person Sg.)
    • Ako me pitaš za savet, nikako nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with "Ako me pitate za savet, nikako nemojTE da...)
    Informal warnings:
    • Pazi se + noun in the Genitive case or gerund (verbal nouns ending in -nje, again in Gen.)
    • Nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg or Pl)
    • Šta god da radiš, nikako nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with Šta god da radite, nikako nemojTE da...) 

    If you need all these phrases written both in the Cyrillic and Latin script, pronounced slowly, check  Serbian phrases link.
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    Saturday, August 10, 2013

    Case Practice - the Dative with Adjectives

    Dative in Serbian , Listening comprehension
    Case Practice - the Dative with Adjectives
    In order to the following exercise easily, I'd suggest you flick through the previous posts on the topic of the Dative case in Serbian:

    Now that you feel more confident about the form and usage, let's try to do two exercises:
    1. try to figure out how adjectives agree with a noun in Dative (what are the endings)
    2. you can listen to the instructions and repeat the same  phrases only with the pronouns in this case (Sg. njemu -mu (masc), njoj-joj (fem.) or Pl. njima-im)
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    Friday, August 09, 2013

    In Novi Sad Tonight ? Don't Miss it!

    local events , Novi Sad
    In Novi Sad Tonight ? Don't Miss it!
    If you happen to be visiting Serbia and Novi Sad, don't miss this magnificent event, taking place tonight:

    You can find all the info on this link and do the following reading comprehension exercise:
    1. What kind of event is it ? 
    2. Who are braća Teofilović ?
    3. When is the concert taking place ?
    4. Where is it taking place ?
    5. How much does the ticket cost ?
    6. Where and how can you buy tickets ? Can you buy them online ?
    7. Is it too late for you to buy them ?
    8. How can you check if the tickets are still being sold ?


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    Thursday, August 08, 2013

    Serbian Speaking Practice

    Serbian language 365 , Serbian phrases
    Serbian Speaking Practice
    One of my favourite parts of a language lesson is when my students can speak in Serbian on their own. That's why I enjoy creating digital teaching materials to help them with visual prompts. Here comes one of my recent videos in the speaking practice series covering the topic of weather.

    If you are not sure what vocabulary to use, here comes the list of the previous posts with:

    So you can feel more confident to speak in Serbian while watching the video:



    As you can see in the background there's a photo of a season, so you can make more complicated sentences like:

    • U jesen obično pada kiša i tmurno je.
    • U proleće retko pada sneg (because you can see the snow slide against the spring background). Obično je sunčano i ponekad je kišovito.
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    Wednesday, August 07, 2013

    Serbian for Children - Numbers

    easy Serbian , numbers in serbian
    Serbian for Children - Numbers
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    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