One of the most common mistakes students of Serbian as a foreign  language tend to make is to use the verbs of movement "ići " + u, "stići" + u, "vratiti se" + u, "posetiti" with the noun in Dative, instead of Accusative. That's why it's often heard:

Idem u Beogradu (incorrect)

instead of

Idem u Beograd (correct)

In the case of the listed verbs above (ići = to go to/ stići = to arrive at/ vratiti se = to come back to /posetiti = to visit), the noun which follows them is in the Accusative case (so called the Accusative of goal/aim).

That's why I've created this video with which you can make simple sentences such as:

• Idem u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple)
• Stižem u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple word order)
• Posetio sam London /Budimpeštu (Past Simple)
• Vraćam se u London / Budimpeštu (Present Simple word order with "se")

Now that you've learnt the introductory song by heart (napamet), you are ready for more examples with the word order of the sentences with reflexive or impersonal "se". This time I'll cover the word order in the Simple Present tense with all three forms, affirmative, negative and questions. So, let's start :

Reflexive -se: oblačiti se  (to get dressed) Present tense of OBLAČITI SE is :


Affirmative sentences : Subject (S) + predicate (P)

• Oblačim se. N
• Ja se  oblačim. 
• Ti se igraš, a ja se oblačim. N 
• Sedi i gledaj TV dok se ja oblačim. N 
• Komšije su videle kako se (ja) oblačim u kuhinji. N 
• Priznajem da se oblačim u kuhinji. N

• Ne oblačim se. N
• Ja se ne  oblačim. 
• Ti se ne igraš, a ja se ne oblačim. N 
• Sedi i gledaj TV dok se ja ne oblačem. N 
• Tvrdila sam da se ne oblačim u kuhinji. N 
• Priznajem da se ne oblačim u kuhinji. N

Questions: Subject (S) +  predicate (P)

• Da li se oblačiš ? N
• Da li se ti oblačiš ? 
• Oblačiš li se ? 
• Jel' se oblačiš ? N
• Kada se oblačiš ? N
• Kada se ti oblačiš ? N
• 
  

Let's make a short comparison of the Present Simple and Past Simple in Serbian with this "drinks video" :)

• Šta obično piješ / pijete tokom dana ?
• Šta obično piješ / pijete kada izađeš uveče ?
• Šta si juče pio  / pila ? / Šta ste juče pili ?*

*translation:

• What do you usually drink during the day ? ("piješ" informal, "pijete" formal)
• What do you usually drink when you go out at night ?
• What did you drink yesterday ? ("pio" for masculine singular, "pila" for feminine singular, "pili" for the second person singular, used formally, or for the second person plural, when you are talking to more people)

Let me show you one more video in the series called Easy Texts in Serbian. This time you have to ask direct questions about the word which is in red.

For example: "Zovem se Tanja" - your task is to ask:

• "Kako se zoveš ?" informal 
• "Kako se zovete ?" formal

For the following questions start with these question words:

• Gde ... (where)
• Kako ... (how) 
• Koliko godina ... (how old)
• Kakvi ...  (what...like)

Listen carefully to this song ... Can you recognize it ?

After publishing yesterday's post it struck me that you might not  be aware of the  meaning of the phrase "ravno mi je sve".That's why I chose the word RAVAN = flat / even / equal as the topic of today's post:

• nekome je sve ravno ( do Kosova )= it's all the same ; it makes no difference

Here comes a gentle introduction to the fourth part of the series of blog posts about the word order in Serbian. Why introduction in the middle of the story ? Because I'm about to write about the verbs with (reflexive) -se: "vratiti se " = "to come back", for example.

Listen to this beautiful song and try to figure out which word is missing in the following lines:


Od Banata prema Sremu nisko oblaci,
noć __ spustila, pa ___ ne vidi...
samo moje misli po ravnici putuju -
ja ih pošaljem al ___ vraćaju...
A ti, a ti ___ nećeš vratiti....
To je bilo davno, pa ___  niko ne seća -
rode nestale jednog proleća...
vratiće __ , kažu ljudi, ove godine...
ove godine il dogodine...
A ti, a ti ___ nećeš vratiti....

REFREN:
Ravno, nigde brda, sve je ravno - ravno mi je sve,
jer u tvome srcu već odavno drugi stanuje...
Ej,kad bi znala ti...(kad bi samo znala ti)
koliko trebaš mi!

Hajde noći tiho, tiše, sitni tonovi,
da ____  nikome to ne ponovi...
bruje zice, srce trne, grom te pogodi-
to ___  dogodi il ne (__) dogodi....
A ti na belom perju zaspi mi...

REFREN

One of the most beautiful Serbian oldtown songs is surely "Što se bore misli moje"



 Let me link two stories about this song:

• Forum discussion about the same topic
• Stories behind songs

In the previous post with easy Serbian texts, you were able to learn a few facts about Branko and his family.

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)

1. Policajac (police officer)
2. Advokat (lawyer)
3. Prestup (violation)
4. Prekršaj (offence)
5. Zovite policiju ! (call the police)

• Prolbemi

1. Novčanik (wallet)
2. Lopov (thief)
3. Provalnik (burglar)
4. Izgubljene stvari (lost property)
5. Ukrasti (to steal)
6. Izgubiti (to lose)
7. Zaboraviti (to forget)
8. Zaboravio sam ključ (I forgot my key)
9. Izgubio sam ključ (I lost my key)
10. Neko mi je ukrao pare / novac (Somebody stole my money)
11. Upomoć ! (Help)

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:

1. OVO = THIS

2. JE = IS

3. OVO JE = THIS IS...

4. BRAT = BROTHER

5. SESTRA = SISTER

6. MUŽ = HUSBAND

7. ŽENA = WIFE

8. LEP = BEAUTIFUL (Fem: lepa)

9. MLAD = YOUNG (Fem: mlada)

10. RUŽAN = UGLY (Fem: ružna)

11. STAR = OLD (Fem: stara)

12. VISOK = TALL (Fem: visoka)

13. NIZAK = SHORT (Fem: niska)

14. IMATI = TO HAVE

15. GODINA = YEARS

16. DETE = CHILD, DECA  = CHILDREN

17. BLIZANCI  = TWINS

18. JOŠ = STILL

19. MALI = YOUNG / LITTLE / SMALL

20. PAS = DOG

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

• TVOJ

• NJEGOV

• NJEN

• NJEGOV

• NJIHOV

• NJIHOV

• NJIHOV

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

• 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