Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

Google Tag Head

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Describing People in Serbian - Part 2

describing people , Serbian language 365
Describing People in Serbian - Part 2
If you liked the first part about how to describe people's age in Serbian, I'm sure you'll enjoy practising following features with the people & places video below:



  • height and build (visina i građa):
  1. ... je prosečne visine = ... is average height.
  2. ... je visok = ... is tall.
  3. ... je nizak = ... is short.
  4. ... je debeo / punačak =... is fat / overweight
  5. ... je mršav = ... is thin
  6. ... je vitak  = ... is slim
 
  • hair (kosa):
  1. duga kosa: ... ima dugu kosu = ...has long hair
  2. kratka kosa: ... ima kratku kosu = ... has short hair
  3. kosa srednje dužine ... ima kosu srednje dužine = ... has medium-length hair
  4. crna kosa ... ima crnu kosu = ...has dark hair
  5. plava kosa ... ima plavu kosu = ... has fair hair
  6. crvena kosa ... ima crvenu kosu = ... has red/ginger hair
  7. (svetlo / tamno) smeđa kosa ... ima (svetlo /tamno ) smeđu kosu = ... has (light / dark) brown hair
  8. seda kosa ... ima sedu kosu = ... has gray hair
  9. kovrdžava kosa ... ima kovrdžavu kosu = ... has curly hair
  10. talasasta kosa ... ima talasastu kosu = ... has wavy hair
  11. ravna kosa ... ima ravnu kosu = ... has straight hair
  12. ... je ćelav = ... is bald
  13. ... je proćelav  ... has a receding hairline.
  14. ...ima šiške (pluralia tantum) = ... has a fringe (in Serbian this word is always in plural, like "vrata"=door)
  15. ...nosi pletenice = ... is wearing her hair in plaits
  16. ...nosi kikice = ... is wearing her hair in pig-tails
  17. ...nosi rep = ... is wearing her hair in a pony-tail
  18. ...nosi puštenu kosu = ...is wearing her hair loose
  19. ...nosi razdeljak (na stranu / u sredini) = ... has a (side / centre) parting
  • complexion (ten)
  1. ...ima taman ten = ...has a dark complexion 
  2. ...ima svetlu put =...has a fair complexion
  3. ... je bled = ...is pale
  4. ... se sunčao = ... has a tanned complexion
  5. ...ima lep ten = ... has a clear /good complexion
  6. ...ima bubuljice /pege  =...has spots / freckles.
  • distinguishing features (karakteristične crte)
  1. ...ima bradu = ...has a beard
  2. ...ima brkove = ... has a moustache
  3. ...je izbrijan =...is clean-shaven
  4. ...ima ožiljak  = ...has a scar
  5. ...ima tetovažu = ... has a tattoo
  6. ...ima guste obrve = ... has bushy eyebrows
  7. ...nosi naočare = ...wears glasses


Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels: ,

Thursday, September 26, 2013

European Day of Languages in Serbian

day of European languages , Serbian language 365
European Day of Languages in Serbian
Many thanks to all the faithful followers of this blog for celebrating European Day of Languages every day :) I'm not a big fun of one-day praznik-a, but let me share with you some great resources for learning Serbian which cover this topic:


  • An excellent 2012 video on this topic:


Can you watch it several times, if necessary, and jot down at least three reasons why learning different languages is important, according to the interviewees ?
Read more »
By at No comments:
Labels: ,

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Word Order in Serbian - Negation in Present, Part 1.3

Serbian language 365 , Word order in Serbian
Word Order in Serbian - Negation in Present, Part 1.3
If you are following the Word Order in Serbian series of blog posts, you surely remember that the first one was about simple verbs (not -se verbs) in the Present Simple tense. This time, I'll cover the same set of sentences in the same tense, but with their negative forms:

One word verb: NE pevati (not sing)Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."

Subject (S) + predicate (P)
  • Ne pevam. N
  • Ja ne pevam. 
  • Ti igraš, a ja ne pevam. N 
  • Ti ne igraš i ja ne pevam. N 
  • Profesor je čuo kako ne pevam i dao mi je jedinicu ! N
  • Priznajem da ne znam da pevam. N
S + P +  direct object (dO)
  • Ne pevam pesmu. N
  • Ja ne pevam pesmu.
  • Vidiš li  da ne pevam tu pesmu ?  N
  • Svi čuju da ja ne pevam pesmu. 

S  + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)

  • Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan. N
  • Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu.
  • Moji profesori svaki dan vide kada ne uradim domaći. N

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

    • Ne pevam pesmu svaki dan  kod kuće.  N
    • Ne pevam pesmu kod kuće svaki dan. N
    • Svaki dan ne pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
    • Kod kuće obično ne pevam pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije ponekad ne čuju kada kod kuće pevam pesmu. N
    • Moje komšije obično ne čuju kada  pevam pesmu kod kuće. N
    • Moje komšije ne igraju uz iks-boks dok ja pevam pesme kod kuće svaki dan. N

    I admit that this was pretty boring, but it's good to have lots of similar examples in one place :) I promise the next part with questions, short answers and negations will be real fun !
    Read more »
    By at No comments:
    Labels: ,

    Tuesday, September 24, 2013

    Learn about Serbian Verbs with Children's Songs

    Serbian for children , Serbian for kids
    Learn about Serbian Verbs with Children's Songs
    Another great song which all the devojčice i dečaci sing is "Ivin voz" by Dragan Laković . It's also perfect to introduce a complex lexical system of the Serbian verb (which mirrors English phrasal verbs as well as perfectve /imperfective aspects ) :



    The Cyrillic script version:
    Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

     Из куће је излетео на улицу Ива
    сав задихан захуктао к'о локомотива.

     Видели га другови, па за њим и они
    потрчали, захуктали к'о прави вагони.

     Ћиху, Ћиху, ћиху-ху...

     Сад улицом тако јури та чудна колона
    то воз Ивин путује са седам вагона.

     The Latin script version:
    Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

    Iz kuće je izleteo na ulicu Iva
    sav zadihan zahuktao k'o lokomotiva.

    Videli ga drugovi, pa za njim i oni
    potrčali, zahuktali k'o pravi vagoni.

    Ćihu, Ćihu, ćihu-hu...

    Sad ulicom tako juri ta čudna kolona
    to voz Ivin putuje sa sedam vagona.
    Interesting verb lexicology:

    • leteti = to fly, IZleteti = to fly out of 
    • huktati = to make a sound like a to train (figuratively: to complain) , ZAhuktati se  = to gather speed (for a train, or when doing something)
    • trčati = to run, POtrčati = to start running
    An exercise covering this topic can be found on this SerbianLesson.com page.


    Read more »
    By at No comments:
    Labels: , , ,

    Monday, September 23, 2013

    Describing People in Serbian - Age

    describing people , Serbian language 365
    Describing People in Serbian - Age
    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

    Primeri = Examples
    Na ovoj slici vidim puno ljudi koji su različitog godišta. S desne strane vidim devojčicu u  ružičastoj suknji i majici, a pored nje je srednjovečni čovek  sa kapom. Ispred njih sedi žena plave kose i proćelavi muškarac, koji deluju kao par u zrelim godinama. Pored njih, s leve strane su dve žene u kasnim dvadesetim. Jedna ima belu majicu bez rukava i crne bermude, a druga nosi ljubičastu majicu bez rukava i plave pantalone. Iza njih s leve strane sedi žena u crvenoj majici kratkih rukava koja ima pedesetak godina i  iza nje je verovatno njen suprug, koji je isto stariji čovek. Pored nje sedi  dečko koji ima oko devet ili deset godina. Oni su na nekom slavlju ili događaju i uglavnom su tu deca ili ljudi u zrelim godinama. Ne vidim uopšte tinejdžere.
    Read more »
    By at No comments:
    Labels: , ,

    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