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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Accidents and Emergencies - Vocabulary and Phrases in Serbian

Marina phrases in Serbian , Serbian language 365

I've recently received a very practical question : how to call for help in Serbian and what to say in case of an accident / theft and similar. So, let me give you a few ideas for three different topics, which hopefully you won't need at all:

Policija / milicija (police)

Policajac (police officer)
Advokat (lawyer)
Prestup (violation)
Prekršaj (offence)
Zovite policiju ! (call the police)

Prolbemi

Novčanik (wallet)
Lopov (thief)
Provalnik (burglar)
Izgubljene stvari (lost property)
Ukrasti (to steal)
Izgubiti (to lose)
Zaboraviti (to forget)
Zaboravio sam ključ (I forgot my key)
Izgubio sam ključ (I lost my key)
Neko mi je ukrao pare / novac (Somebody stole my money)
Upomoć ! (Help)

Nesrećan slučaj (accident)

Kvar (breakdown)
Služba za hitnu popravku (emergency breakdown service)
Sudar (accident, collision)
Osiguranje (insurance)
Automobil mi se pokvario (my car has broken down)
Vaše osiguranje (Your insurance documents)
Prijaviti sudar (to report an accident)
To je vaša krivica (it's your fault )

Beginner Serbian - New Lesson with Exercises

Marina Serbian adjectives , Serbian language 365

In the previous post about easy texts in Serbian, I said that I wasn't very happy with the quality of the audio recording. Today, when I tried to fix it, I ended up changing the video structure and creating 3 more videos for you to practise. I'm sure you'll like this new version more and that the previous one. If you are a real beginner in Serbian, you can take a look at the vocabulary list while watching the video:

OVO = THIS

JE = IS

OVO JE = THIS IS...

BRAT = BROTHER

SESTRA = SISTER

MUŽ = HUSBAND

ŽENA = WIFE

LEP = BEAUTIFUL (Fem: lepa)

MLAD = YOUNG (Fem: mlada)

RUŽAN = UGLY (Fem: ružna)

STAR = OLD (Fem: stara)

VISOK = TALL (Fem: visoka)

NIZAK = SHORT (Fem: niska)

IMATI = TO HAVE

GODINA = YEARS

DETE = CHILD, DECA = CHILDREN

BLIZANCI = TWINS

JOŠ = STILL

MALI = YOUNG / LITTLE / SMALL

PAS = DOG

*** POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES ***

MOJ -mojA sestrA - mojE detE - mojI prijateljI - mojE prijateljicE - mojA decA

TVOJ

NJEGOV

NJEN

NJEGOV

NJIHOV

NJIHOV

NJIHOV

Exercise 1 - Verbs are missing. You can mute the video in order to do the exercise on your own.

Exercise 2 - Make a similar story about your family.

Word Order in Serbian - Future Tense

Marina future tense in Serbian , Serbian language 365

This is the third part of the series of blog posts about the word order or "red reči" in a Serbian sentence. I covered the word order in the present tense and past tense and today's topic is the future tense. If you find the letter N next to the sentence, it means that it is the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:

One word verb: pevati (to sing)

Future tense of PEVATI (to sing): "I'll sing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Pevaću. N
Ja ću pevati.
Ti ćeš igrati, a ja ću pevati. N
Sedećeš i slušaćeš, a ja ću pevati. N
Prijatelji su čuli kako ću pevati na koncertu. N
Priznajem da ću pevati na koncertu. N

S + P + direct object (dO)

Pevaću pesmu. N
Ja ću pevati pesmu.
Čuće oni kako ću im otpevati pesmu. N (im= njima= to them, indirect object)
Svi su čuli da ću pevati tu pesmu. N

S + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

Pevaću pesme svaki dan. N
Svaki dan ću pevati pesmu. N
Moji prijatelji su pitali kada ću pevati pesmu sledeći put. N

S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)

Pevaću pesmu svaki dan kod kuće. N
Pevaću pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. n
Svaki dan ću pevati pesmu kod kuće. N
Kod kuće svaki dan ću pevati pesmu.
Moje komšije će sutra čuti zašto ću kod kuće pevati pesmu. N
Moje komšije će čuti zašto ću pevati pesmu za nedelju dana kod kuće. N

Moje komšije će igrati uz iks-boks dok ću ja pevati pesme uz xbox kod kuće za nedelju dana. N

Who is More Dangerous ?

Marina adjective comparison in Serbian , Serbian language 365

I surely wasn't doing a great job tagging and linking the blog posts properly when I first started it back in 2007 - 2008. As it transpired, it seems there were only two posts covering the topic of comparison of adjectives in Serbian ! Shame on me ! This should be urgently fixed...

For now, try to compare the animals you see in the video sticking to the following sentence structure, using only the adjective "dangerous" = opasan (comparative : Singular: opasniji (masc) - opasnija(fem) - opasnije (neut.) Plural: opasniji (masc) - opasnije (fem) - opasnija (neut) )

For pre-intermediate level: Lav je opasniji od zebre (Gen. of "zebra")
For intermediate and upper levels: Mislim da je lav opasniji od zebre.

Animals in the video with their Genitive form:

zebra - od zebre
tigar - od tigra
ajkula - od ajkule
orao - od orla
medved = od medveda
lav = od lava
panda = od pande
vuk = od vuka
žirafa = od žirafe
aligator = od aligatora
golub = od goluba
zmija = od zmije
lane = od laneta

Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"

Marina common phrases , Serbian idioms

If you are wondering how I choose the topics for everyday blog posts, the answer is very simple: they are based on the questions my students ask me in our online lessons.

One of the recent ones was to list phrases with the verb "faliti", which can mean "to miss", "not to have", "to lack", but in some idioms it cannot be translated in such a simplistic manner:

Šta fali ? = So what ? or What's wrong with that ? This phrase is often used to strongly disagree with someone who has a different point of view. Let me make up a short dialogue:

Ana: Nemoj piti tu vodu !
Pera: Što ? Šta joj fali ????

Fali joj/mu daska u glavi ! = To have a screw loose in one's head or Not to have all their marbles.

Na primer: Šta ovaj bunca ? - Ma pusti ga! Očigledno mu fali daska u glavi !

Neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave ! = Not a hair on your head will be harmed !

Na primer: Ne smeju ti ništa dok sam ja uz tebe! Ne brini, neće ti faliti ni dlaka s glave !

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment box below ;-)

Serbian for Kids - Bedtime Stories

Marina Serbian for children , Serbian for kids

A must bedtime story for all the children out there who are learning Serbian is surely "Medvedova ženidba", written by the famous Serbian poet Desanka Maksimović.

Unfortunately,

Funny Grammatical Categories in Serbian

Marina Accusative in Serbian , Learn Serbian online

One of the funny grammatical categories you might come across in Serbian are "animate" vs. "inanimate" nouns, which is for instance reflected in the Accusative declensions, only for Sg. Masculine. This means that just because you've seen (to see = videti) or taken a photo ((u)slikati) of a person, not a thing, a noun like "dečak" will take the Genitive declension markers (suffix -a) instead of Accusative (zero suffix), although it's still an Accusative case. (I'm talking only about the form here).

For example: Ovo je dečak. Videla sam dečaka. Slikala sam dečaka. (there's also a stress change from the first to the second syllable).

While the linguists dwell on these topics and enjoy discussing whys and ifs of such irregularities, I always enjoy helping you in the most practical way. That's why Ivan and I created these two videos, carefully choosing nouns both in singular and then in plural and grouping them. With both videos you can practice saying simple sentences, with the verbs:

videti (to see )
fotografisati = slikati = uslikati (to take a photo of )
snimati (to record)

The first video covers the grammatical category of "inanimate" objects:

The second one is obviously all about "animate" category - this time the topic is "people " (so switch to the Genitive endings for masc. please).

What Does it Mean in Serbian ?

Marina asking for clarification in Serbian , Serbian language 365

A photo I took the other day - just for you :)

If you don't understand what's being said ( or written ) in Serbian, you can always ask questions such as:

Šta znači " Gazda bio, gazda ost'o 100 % " ? = What does "..." mean ?
Ne razumem = I don't understand
Možeš li da mi objasniš (šta znači) "..." ? = Can you explain what "..." mean ?
Možeš li da ponoviš "..." ? = Can you repeat "..." ?
Ponovi još jednom, molim te ? = Repeat once again, please ?
Molim ? = Pardon ?
Možeš li da ponoviš malo sporije ? = Can you repeat it a bit slower ?
Kako se izgovara ova reč ? = How do you pronounce this word ?
Kako se čita ova reč / ovo slovo ? = How do I read this word / letter ?
Kako se piše slovo "ć" ? = How do you write letter "ć" ?

Da li neko ima ideju kako najbolje prevesti " Gazda bio, gazda ost'o 100 %" ?

Word order in Serbian Sentences in the Simple Past

Marina Serbian language 365 , Word order in Serbian

In one of the previous blog posts about the "red reči" in a Serbian sentence, I covered the word order in the present tense and it's time to talk about the past simple. Don't forget that the letter N is used for the most neutral / natural sounding sentence:

One word verb: pevati (to sing)

Past tense OF "I sang / I was singing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)

Pevao / pevala sam. N
Ja sam pevao/pevala.
Ti si igrao, a ja sam pevala. N
Ti si igrao i ja sam pevala. N
Komšije su čule kako sam pevala. N
Priznajem da sam pevala. N

S + P + direct object (dO)

Pevala sam pesmu. N
Ja sam pevala pesmu.
(not neutral, but rather poetic word order would be: Pesmu sam pevala / Ja sam pesmu pevala. / pesmu pevala sam ja (reminded me of "zaboravio sam jutros pesmu jednu ja" - watch the video)
Čuješ da sam otpevala pesmu. N
Svi su čuli da sam pevala pesmu.

S + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

Pevala sam pesmu svaki dan. N
Svaki dan sam pevala pesmu. N
Moji prijatelji su juče čuli kada sam pevala pesmu. N

S + P + dO + AoT + AoP (adverb of place)

Pevala sam pesmu svaki dan kod kuće. N
Pevala sam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
Svaki dan sam pevala pesmu kod kuće. N
Kod kuće svaki dan sam pevala pesmu. N
Moje komšije su juče čule kada sam kod kuće pevala pesmu. N
Moje komšije su čule kada sam pevala pesmu pre nedelju dana kod kuće. N

Moje komšije su igrale uz iks-boks dok sam pevala pesme kod kuće pre nedelju dana. N

Easy Texts in Serbian

Marina easy Serbian , Serbian language 365

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 !

Word order in Serbian

Marina Serbian language 365 , 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

Warnings in Serbian :)

Marina Imperatives , Serbian language 365

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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