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It can be tricky to learn how to cope with some simple sentences and questions when this "se" word shows up. The best way to cope with it is to practice with a set of familiar phrases:
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query word order. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query word order. Sort by date Show all posts
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2013
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
Monday, December 14, 2020
From the very first lesson, one gets to learn that funny "se" in the sentence: "Zovem se... " (My name is...). Often times it doesn't mean anything, or simply isn't translated into English. That's why you need to do a lot of exercises to get accustomed to this form.
Serbian 301 - Word Order with SE
Let's start with the first exercise where you simply need to say how much these sentences are true for you. Try using the following phrases:
- Takođe
- Isto
- Ponekad
- Uglavnom
- Nikada
Exercise with Word Order with SE
Now, that you are familiar with these sentences, you can easily do the following exercise - putting the words in order. Have fun!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
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
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
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
Thursday, September 05, 2013
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
Negations: Subject (S) + NE + predicate (P)
- 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
S + P + AoT(adverb of time) + AoP (adverb of place)
- Oblačim se svaki dan u kuhinji. N
- Svaki dan se oblačim u kuhinji. N
- (I'm not listing all the other combinations as they are not neutral)
- Moje komšije su čule da se oblačim u kuhinji svaki dan. N
- Moje komšije su čule da se svaki dan oblačim u kuhinji. N
- (I'm not listing all the other combinations as they are not neutral)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
One word verb: NE pevati (not sing)Present tense OF "I sing / I'm singing."
Subject (S) + predicate (P)
S + P + dO + adverb of time (AoT)
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 !
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
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
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Serbian language has fairly free word order because of its numerous suffixes for various categories. Let's see how to rephrase the sentences from the post on Adjectives and Nouns introducing an Adverb 'zaista', which means ''really''.
Formula:
This + BE + (article which doesn't exist in Serbian) really + Adj + Noun
Noun + BE + really + Adj
adjectives: LEP / JAK / VISOK / VELIK / SKUP
a. Ovo je zaista lepa knjiga = Ovo je lepa knjiga zaista = Zaista ovo je lepa knjiga = Zaista lepa je knjiga ovo.*
b. Knjiga je zaista lepa = Knjiga je lepa zaista = Zaista knjiga je lepa = Zaista lepa je knjiga.*
*less common word orders
Formula:
This + BE + (article which doesn't exist in Serbian) really + Adj + Noun
Noun + BE + really + Adj
adjectives: LEP / JAK / VISOK / VELIK / SKUP
a. Ovo je zaista lepa knjiga = Ovo je lepa knjiga zaista = Zaista ovo je lepa knjiga = Zaista lepa je knjiga ovo.*
b. Knjiga je zaista lepa = Knjiga je lepa zaista = Zaista knjiga je lepa = Zaista lepa je knjiga.*
*less common word orders
- ___________ momak. (young man)
- ___________ automobil. (car)
- ___________ nos. (nose)
- ___________ zgrada. (building)
- ___________ kuća. (house)
- ___________ sto. (table)
- ___________ torba. (bag)
- ___________ dete. (child)
- ___________ zrno. (grain)
Thursday, September 12, 2013
- 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
After practising telling a story about yourself with these phrases:
...you can try to do the similar one based on my false biography, so you have to make all the sentences in the exercise negative :)
Monday, November 08, 2021
Since there aren't many exercises on perfective and imperfective aspect in Serbian, I'll share all my video lessons and exercises for you to practice.
Aspect in Serbian - Short Explanation
The easiest way to see the difference and the most frequent forms are to contrast present and past tense in Serbian.
Aspect in Serbian - Trošiti vs Potrošiti
- The Perfective Aspect of the verbs in Serbian shows most naturally in the past tense, denoting the finished action: Potrošila sam puno novca na kompjuter (I have spent /I spent a lot of money on the computer)
- The Imperfective Aspect shows clearly in the present tense, showing duration: Dok ti štediš novac, ja ga trošim (While you are saving money, I am spending it) - HOWEVER, it can be used for regular actions and habits as well: koliko novca trošiš svakog mesec? (how much money do you spend each month)
Aspect in Serbian - Video Exercise
Therefore, this word order exercise is dedicated only to this clear PRESENT/PAST distinction
For more, make sure you follow Serbian 301 and 401 posts!
Aspect in Serbian - Word order Exercise
Friday, September 06, 2013
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")
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Lazy City can be a great source of teaching materials for learning Serbian. If you are at higher levels of Serbian, I am sure you will enjoy watching the first episode of "Lenji grad" with Stefani and her friends and doing exercises I prepared for you :)
Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension
Serbian 501 - Listening Comprehension - Word Order Exercises
Drugi deo
Monday, November 17, 2008
If you want to ask Yes/No questions in Serbian always start with 'DA LI', no matter what tense. For the Present Tense keep this word order :
Let me add the word order commonly used in colloquial speech:
Exercise: Make 6 Yes/No questions about Ivan. The answers are in the first comment, because Ivan doesn't feel like recording his own voice right now :o(
- Da li (+Subject if it is necessary, or cannot be inferred from the conjugation) + Verb ... Example: Da li Ivan živi u Novom Sadu? Da li živimo u Novom Sadu?
- Da li + Verb TO BE (+ S ) Example: Da li si u Parizu? Da li si ti Ivan?
- Da li + se (+ S) + Verb in case of verbs with reflexive pronoun 'se' ... Example: Da li se on zove Ivan? Da li se budiš u pet ili u šest?
Let me add the word order commonly used in colloquial speech:
- Živi li Ivan u Novom Sadu ? - Verb + li + (S)
- Jesi li u Parizu ? - To be (only the full forms: jesam/jesi/jeste/jesmo/jeste/jesu) + li + (S) ...
- Zoveš li se Ivan ? - Verb + li + se + (S) / Jel' + se +(S) + Verb
Exercise: Make 6 Yes/No questions about Ivan. The answers are in the first comment, because Ivan doesn't feel like recording his own voice right now :o(
Thursday, October 03, 2013
The verb "nositi" in Serbian has many different translations into English :
- nositi odeću = to wear clothes
- nositi torbu = to carry a bag
- nositi dete = to bear a child
- nositi se sa problemima = to cope with problems
So, while in English there's a multitude of different words representing only one word in Serbian, there's this very productive prefixation system in our language which will make things complicated. But don't worry ! If you start learning the approximate meanings of Serbian suffixes and prefixes, you'll pretty soon be able to infer the meaning from the context, if you know what the basic stem word means. Let me give you an example with the stem " nositi ", as explained above :
- pre- = over/ across
- prenositi = to carry over,
- preneti dete = to bear a child longer than it is due,
- preneti dete preko bare = to carry a child over a puddle
- iz- = out of /thoroughly
- izneti torbu = to carry out a bag,
- iznositi odeću = to wear some clothes for years,
- iznošena odeća = worn out clothes
- u- = into
- uneti torbu u kuću = to bring a bag into a house
- s- = downward movement / it also adds perfective aspect (sth. is finished)
- snositi posledice = to bear the consequences
- snositi troškove školovanja = to bear the cost of tuition fees (for example)
- pod - = to
- podnositi buku = to bear the noise (Kako možeš da podneseš ovu užasnu buku = How can you bear this awful noise ?)
- podneti ostavku = to submit a resignation
- podneti poraz = to accept a defeat
- podnositi ( vreme / pritisak...) = to withstand (weather conditions / pressure)
- od- = signifies the movement from/ out of or in the opposite direction
- odneti = to take sth.to (we took the clothes to them = odneli smo im odeću)
In the next post I'll list a few idioms with the verb "nositi". Watch this space!
If you like this type of blog posts, make sure you don't miss the previous ones covering the verbs:
For those of you who are still coping with the basics, here's a simple video with which you can drill present and past simple, saying sentences such as:
- On nosi ... / ona nosi ... / ono nosi ...
- On je nosio ... / ona je nosila / ono je nosilo ... or
- Nosio je... / nosila je ... / nosilo je ... (which is more common and neutral word order)
Here comes the video :
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
If you were happy with my short video lesson about the very simple form of the phrase "I need something" yesterday, I am sure you are now ready for a few exercises. Let me start with the easier ones and then I'll add some for more advanced students:
- For Beginners: Practising only "Treba mi + different international words"
a. Flashcards
- For Intermediate students: Practising "Treba + mi/ ti / Vam / mu / joj / nam / im + international words"
a. Flashcards
c. Gravity game
- For Advanced students: Practising the past tense form "I needed + something", which is more complicated because here the past tense form of the word has to agree with the direct object (something): "TrebalE su mi jabukE // TrebalI su joj prijateljI // TrebalA nam je vodA" (+ word order with 3rd person Sg of the direct object).
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Future Tense in Serbian
Future Tense in Serbian with "Ej žalim žalim"
And what an enjoyable practice can it be when you simply sing it! That's why I am focusing today on this beautiful song featuring the future tense in Serbian :)
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Although this poem is not written by a Serbian, but a Russian poet, I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Rade Šerbedžija, our renowned actor, and his uniqe interpretation :)
This poem is perfect for getting to know the verb "to wait" and its
- imperative form "čekaj"
- the pronouns following it "čekaj + me"
- the word order: Čekaj me vs. Samo me čekaj dugo
- parts of speech: čekati (infinitive) čekanje (noun)
- conjugations
Monday, February 25, 2013
I'm sure you enjoyed my last post about Poletarac ! Bilo je zabavno, zar ne ? Today, I'd like to remind you of four great interviews with foreigners living in Serbia, which I posted last year:
They share their view of many different aspects of life and I'm sure you'll enjoy watching them, as well as doing some extra exercises and video lessons:
They share their view of many different aspects of life and I'm sure you'll enjoy watching them, as well as doing some extra exercises and video lessons:
- Word order in Serbian, Exercise based on the first video
- Collocations about city life, based on Video 2 (the first two parts of the video)
Sunday, January 02, 2022
Practicing Serbian with Songs
In the previous blog post you practiced Serbian with the song Donesi vina, krčmarice! Now I am adding the second part to it, a new exercise and a list of words to practice with this song.
Practicing Serbian Word Order with Songs
Practicing Vocabulary Serbian Songs
- Doneti = to bring
- Donesi = bring! informal
- Donesite = bring! formal or plural
- Vino = wine
- Krčmarica = waitress arch. (Voc. case - krčmarice)
- Rumen = red, flush
- lice = face
- Daj = give! informal
- Dajte = give! formal or plural
- piti = to drink (pijem = first person sg in present simple)
- tuga = sorrow
- razbiti = to break, shatter
- srce = heart
- boleti = to hurt
- hteti = to want/ will (hoću, hoćeš, hoće - sg. present simple)
- izgoreti = to burn (izgorim, izgoriš, izgori - sg. present simple)
- ružica = ruža = rose
- oči = eyes
- crn = black
- žeravica = ember
- celo selo = The whole village
- zaneti se = to get carried away
- svi = everybody
- Bog = god
- Bože = Voc case of Bog
- stvoriti = To create (što je stvori =why have you created her)
- mlad = young
- momak = young man
- mučiti = to torture
- moriti = to torture/torment
Exercises with These Words
Flashcards Exercise
Test Exercise
Posts
