In part one of this short series of blog posts on how to describe a person in Serbian, I'll cover just how to describe someone's age, and give you lots of sample sentences, so you can try to describe people in the photo below, focusing on their age ( and a little bit on clothes ):

Godište = Age

• beba  = baby
• dete =  child
• dete koje je tek prohodalo = toddler
• dečko = boy
• devojčica = girl
• tinejdžer = teenager 
• mladić = young man (short "a")
• devojka = young woman 
• omladina = youth
• čovek u zrelim godinama = middle-aged man
• žena u zrelim godinama = middle-aged woman 
• stariji čovek / žena = elderly man/ woman
• ... ima dvadeset pet godina =... is 25 
• ...ima tridesetak godina = ... is thirty something
• ...ima oko četrdeset godina = ... is about forty
• ...ima pedeset i kusur = ... is fifty odd.
• ... je u (svojim) ranim / kasnim dvadesetim = ... is in (her /his) early / late twenties

In order to persevere with learning the Serbian language you have to be proactive in finding fun and quality material on the internet. In the morning you can work on more demanding materials, such as :

• Short news
• Weather Forecast in Serbian
• For women (choose the topic you like and try to figure out what it is about :)
• For men Short Sports News
• Films
• Serbian lessons and exercises
• Recepti = recipes

and in the evenings always flick through some easy, fun and relaxing stuff :

• Vukajlija  = fun vocabulary definitions(urban dictionary) with photos
• Vicevi po temama = jokes divided in topics
• FaceBook Grupa: Nostalgija 
• Demotivacija - slike sa kratkim tekstom = photos with short text
• Njuz - vesti u ogledalu = (more advanced students - fun texts ) 
• Kupindo - check out the second-hand things you can buy and how much they cost

Slažu se kao pas i mačka :)

The verb "slagati se" imperf.(with first "a" being long) /"složiti se" perf.  = to agree * can have a range of different meanings in Serbian and we're going to discuss them today, because I'll need it for my next lesson about Serbian history.

• If two colours match, we say "slažu se". For example: Plava se slaže sa žutom, ali se ne slaže sa crvenom (slagati se = to match)
• If a brother and sister get on/along with each other, we say "oni se slažu". For example: Baš imaš sreće, tvoj  brat i ti se dobro slažete. (You are rally lucky, your brother and you get along very well)
• If you agree to go out with your friend, you will say: "slažem se". For example: Hoćeš li da idemo u restoran večeras ? Važi, slažem se! (Would you like to go to a restaurant tonight ? OK, I agree!)
• If two people are at each other's throats, i.e." fight like cat(s) and dog(s)" you can similarly describe it in Serbian as "slažu se kao pas i mačka"!

For learners of Serbian as a foreign language often times it's difficult to pronounce the Serbian sound "LJ" or "Љ" correctly. That's because some students tend to pronounce "L" and then "J" separately. If you'd like to make your pronunciation of "lj" perfect, follow these steps:

1. Try to say "L", as in English word "love". Where is your tongue ? Up or down ?
2. Try to say "J", as in English word "yes". Where is your tongue ? Up or down ?
3. Right, so you noticed that in "L" the tongue is up, just behind your upper  teeth, while with "J", the tongue is down. If you want to say "lj" correctly, the tongue mustn't move from the upward position downwards, because it's one sound.
4. Now, keep your  tongue as if you want to pronounce "J" as in "yes", because it's the right tongue position for the perfect "lj", and at the same time try to pronounce "L", WITHOUT raising your tongue upwards. What happens ? Did you hear your first "lj" ? Now keep practising !

Keep your tongue low, as if you want to pronounce "J" (as in "yes") sound, but say "L" (as in "love")

This part is preparing you to practise word order with the words with the reflexive/impersonal pronoun "se". This time I've chosen only the verbs which are widely used when you talking about important life phases, so all the sentences in the videos will be in the Simple Past:

• roditi se = to be born
• školovati se = to be schooled
• upisati se (u školu / na fakultet) = to enrol (a school / university)
• zaposliti se = to start working / to get a job
• preseliti se = to move (to another city / country)
• kvalifikovati se (za) = to get qualified (for)
• venčati se = to get married

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