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:

• age (godište)
• clothes (odeća)

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

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:

• Proslavite Evropski dan jezika - Serbian version flyer
• Celebrate the European Day of Languages - English version (check for flyers in other languages)
• An RTV Article 
• Today's video about 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 ?

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:

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

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

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

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:

1. zebra - od zebre
2. tigar  - od tigra
3. ajkula - od ajkule
4. orao - od orla
5. medved = od medveda
6. lav = od lava
7. panda = od pande
8. vuk = od vuka
9. žirafa = od žirafe
10. aligator = od aligatora
11. golub = od goluba
12. zmija = od zmije
13. lane = od laneta

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 ;-)

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,

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).

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

• 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" ?

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

• 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

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

• About Jeremy in the Latin alphabet
• About Jeremy in Serbian Cyrillic script
• About Jeremy's wife
• Again about Jeremy's wife

 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 !

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

• 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

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...)

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