Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Useful phrases and links for tourists coming to Novi Sad

AUTOBUS - bus / coach

VOZ - train

TROLEJBUS - trolley-bus

TRAMVAJ -tram

BICIKL - bicycle

AVION - plane

AUTOBUSKA STANICA - bus/ coach station
POLAZAK / POLASCI - departure
DOLAZAK / DOLASCI - arrivals
ŽELEZNIČKA STANICA - railway station
AERODROM - airport

KOLIKO KOŠTA ... - how much is ...

AUTOBUSKA KARTA - bus ticket
VOZNA KARTA - railway ticket
ULAZNICA - entrance fee
RENTIRANJE - renting of

ULICA - street

GLAVNA ULICA - main street

MOST -bridge

PARK - park

REKA - river

ŠKOLA - school

HOTEL - hotel

CRKVA - church

KATEDRALA - cathedral

MUZEJ - museum

POZORIŠTE - theatre

RESTORAN - restaurant

PAB - pub

KAFE - cafe

BOLNICA - hospital

CENTAR GRADA - city centre/ downtown

ZOOLOŠKI VRT - zoo

PIJACA - market

ŠOPING CENTAR - shopping centre

KAMP - camp

EXIT - izlaz

ENTRANCE - ulaz

TVRĐAVA - fortress

PETROVARADINSKA TVRĐAVA - Petrovaradin Fortress

POLICAJAC - policeman

POLICIJSKA STANICA - police station

KONZULAT - consulate

AMBASADA -embassy

******************* phrases in context:
questions:
HOW MUCH IS...? - koliko košta ...?
WHERE IS ... ? - gde je ... ? (for pronunciation check this video)
possible answers :
THERE - tamo
TURN - skreni
(ON THE) LEFT - levo
(ON THE) RIGHT - desno
GO - idi / idite
STRAIGHT - pravo

MAL for Serbian

Marina learn serbian , sites for learning Serbian

Recently I came across this great site called MAL (Master Any Language) with flash cards, games and lists of words in Serbian and English. It is obviously in an early phase, and there are a few mistakes, which really made me laugh. For instance, for the word 'train' we use 'voz', never 'komora' or for 'hot' we say 'vruć' not 'gorući', and for the part of the body called 'calf', we use 'list', never 'batak' (this is used for poultry or for women's legs in sleng, usu. in Pl 'koji bataci', but this is not suitable translation for a flash card at an official language learning site) :o) Nevertheless, I am sure these mistakes will be corrected.

"noga" or "list" not "batak"!

Clothes in Serbian 2

Marina clothes in Serbian , serbian cases

Part two combines asking questions from part no. 1 (gde je / gde su) with answers (ona je u + ormanU (suffix '-u' for masc. nouns denotes the locative case). Take a look at the example examples:

1. CIPELE (Fem - Pl)
a. Gde su cipele? (Where are the shoes)
b. One su u ormanu. (They are in the cupboard)

2. KUPAĆI KOSTIM (Masc. - Sg)
a. Gde je kupaći kostim?
b. On je u ormanu.

5. ODELO (Neuter - Sg)
a. Gde je odelo?
b. Ono je u ormanu.

Now you can continue:

3. JAKNA (Fem - Sg)
4. CIPELE (Fem - Pl)
5. ODELO (Neut - Sg)
6. ŠAL (Masc - Sg)
7. HALJINA (Fem - Sg)
8 / 10. GAĆE (Fem - Pl)
9. POTKOŠULJA (Fem - Sg)
11. RUKAVICE (Fem - Pl)
12. ŠORC (Masc - Sg)
13. ČARAPE (Fem - Pl)
14. ČIZME (Fem - Pl)
15. PRSLUK (Masc - Sg)
**************************

Sg Masculine (he) ON
Sg Feminine (she) ONA
Sg Neuter (it) ONO
Pl Masculine (they) ONI
Pl Feminine (they) ONE
Pl Neuter (they) ONA

Personal Pronouns in Serbian

Marina pronouns in Serbian ,

Personal pronouns in Serbian

Once you start learning Serbian you will be taught the most basic words, usually together with the verb to be, and these are the personal pronouns:

Ja = I
Ti = you (for one person, informal = for members of the family, people we know well, younger people than we are)
Vi = You (for one person, formal = used at work, in formal situations, with people you don't know or want to show respect. Children use this form to talk to adults. This form is not common among the members of the family, though.)
On = he
Ona = she
Ono = it
Mi = we
Vi = you (more than one)
Oni = they for masculine
One = they for feminine
Ona = they for neuter

You can hear the pronunciation of the personal pronouns in Serbian in the following video where Jeremy practices the verb to be:

Present Tense Conjugation in Serbian

Marina present simple in Serbian , verb conjugations in Serbian

April u __________ by Zdravko Čolić

Listen to this lovely song and fill in the gaps. In order to be able to determine the right form, the corresponding subjects are highlighted red. If you need more info or practice on "u + location", check out the new blog post about the Locative case.

______________ (prolaziti) i ______________ (vraćati) se s lastama
Sunčani i nasmijani dani
opet _________ (biti) u mojoj duši proljeće,
da l' _________ (biti) djevojka il' žena sada ti?

April u Beograd__ uzaludno (ja) ______________ (tražiti)
Usne jedne djevojke sto se divno ______________ (maziti)April u Beograd_ ____________ (milovati) joj kosu
Ispod Savskog mosta to ____________ (biti) možda ona
Al' je drugi _______________ (ljubiti). ______________ (prolaziti) i ______________ (vraćati) se s lastama
Sunčani i nasmijani dani
opet _________ (biti) u mojoj duši proljeće,
da l' _________ (biti) djevojka il' žena sada ti?

April u Beograd__ jedno prošlo doba (ja)_______________ (nositi) ga u mislima iz vojnickih soba
April u Beograd__ umorno se ______________ (smešiti)
Ispod savskog mosta dok se sumrak ___________ (spremati)
vise mene _______________ (nemati).

Locative in Serbian

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

Answer key for 'Clothes in Serbian 1'

Marina clothes in Serbian ,

Clothes in Serbian 1

Marina clothes in Serbian , locative case in Serbian

If I write down the words in Serbian for items 1 to 15, could you please ask 15 questions starting either by 'GDE JE...' or 'GDE SU...' (Where is... Where are...). Look at the example 1. and 4.
1. Gde je kapa?
4. Gde su pantalone?
You can write the answer in the comment, or practise asking questions by listening to the newly set up Youtube, LearnSerbian :o)
HAVE FUN!!!!

KAPA
KRAVATA
KAIŠ
PANTALONE
ŠAL
GAĆE
GRUDNJAK
HALJINA
ŠEŠIR
PATIKE
JAKNA
FARMERKE
KUPAĆI KOSTIM
KOŠULJA
MAJICA

Language learning tip - reading

Club Francais comprehension exercises ,

Comparative reading exercise using the BBC website. First choose a popular story from BBC Serbian & then choose the same story the English (French) or whatever language you use. http://www.bbc.co.uk/serbian/

It is not quite parallel text reading but it will help you in gaining more of a gist of the story in Serbian. An example is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/serbian/news/2009/06/090601_air_france.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8076848.stm

Colours in Serbian

Marina boje na srpskom , colors in Serbian

Idiot's Guide to the Cyrillic Alphabet

Club Francais abeceda , azbuka

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet

During my sojourn in Montenegro, I encountered both the use of Latin and Cyrillic versions of the alphabet. This was a great opportunity to pick up and understand more of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Signs for streets & squares were in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is based on the one sound, one letter system. I had a steep learning curve in reading Cyrillic, particularly when I was trying to read the inscriptions on the Partizan memorials for my English compatriots!

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet

Now I am sharing with you, dear blog readers, on how I started to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. I found it easier by breaking down the alphabet into sections. All in all, it took me just over 1 hour to get myself acquainted with the alphabet.
Click here to hear the audio

ћирилица

..................................................................................

THE FRIENDLY LETTERS (As they are exactly the same as in the latin alphabet)

K M T O A E J

Examples words: ATOM, MAJKA

THE FALSE FRIENDS (Be aware - although they look the same as their counterparts in the latin alphabet, they represent different letters!).

В P С X У
V R S H U

Can you work out the following words?

CECTPA, BУK, BPATA

THE COMMON CYRILLIC CORE (That's what I call these set of letters as they are common to other Cyrillic based languages).

Б Г Д 3 Л П Ф И H Ж Ч Ш ц

B G D Z L P F I N ž č Š C

Here are some means of transportation:

BOЗ

БРOД

TAKCИ

AУTOБУC

ABИОН
and some other words

XBAЛA
ДAН
KPEBET
ПЕКAРA
KAПУЋИНО
ЧAJ
ЖИВОТ
ПОШТA
БУЛEBAP
ЛЕП

THE SERBIAN CYRILLIC SET (Unique to the language and quite distinct).

Џ Ђ Ћ Љ Њ
Dž Đ Ć LJ NJ

Here are a selection of words for you to work out:

HOЋ
ЉУБАВ
ЂAK
ЏEMПEP
KOЊ

The sort order of the ćirilica (ћирилица) alphabet:
Cyrillic order (called Azbuka (азбука): А Б В Г Д Ђ Е Ж З И Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О П Р С Т Ћ У Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш

The sort order of the latinica (латиница) alphabet:
Latin order (called Abeceda (абецеда): A B C Č Ć D Dž Đ E F G H I J K L Lj M N Nj O P R S Š T U V Z Ž

The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is based on the simple principle of:

"write as you speak and read as it is written"

Пиши као што говориш и читај како је написано.

Piši kao što govoriš i čitaj kako je napisano.

Don't forget that there's always Serbian Phrases List in the Cyrillic version with slow pronunciation ! Those who know how to write "FaithfulFollower" in Serbian (in the Latin alphabet) will get a significant discount :)

If you would like to get all my video lessons with explanations in English, translations and additional exercises like the ones above, in the meaningful order, consider joining me on Patreon. HVALA!

Proverbs - Poslovice

Club Francais

● Кад мачке нема, мишеви коло воде. - Kad mačke nema, miševi kolo vode.

o Translation: When cat is absent, mice dance. (When the cat is away, the mice will play.)

o Le chat parti, les souris dansent.

● Нема ватре без дима. - Nema vatre bez dima.

o Translation: There is no fire without smoke. (Where there is smoke there is fire.)

o Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu

● Није злато све што сија. - Nije zlato sve što sija.

o Translation: Gold is not all that shines. (All that glitters is not gold.)

o Les apparences sont trompeuses.

● Правити од комарца магарца. - Praviti od komarca magarca.

Translation: To make a donkey out of a mosquito. (To make a mountain out of a molehill.)

o Faire d'une mouche un elephant.

● Што можеш данас, не остављај за сутра. - Što možeš danas, ne ostavljaj za sutra.

Translation: What you can do today do not leave off for tomorrow. (Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.)

o Il ne faut jamais remettre au lendemain ce qu'on peut faire le jour même.

Crna Gora - Montenegro

Club Francais Montenegrin food ,

After one week in the splendid mountains of Crna Gora, I am now missing the food! So I would like to share with you some visual displays of some of foods that I tried while I was in Crna Gora.

Crna Gora style Pita (Pie)

Posle nedelju dana u prelepim crnogorskim planinama, nedostaje mi hrana! Zbog toga bih želela da podelim sa vama nekoliko fotografija jela koje sam probala dok sam bila u Crnoj Gori. Pita u crnogorskom stilu (pie):

Only try this at home if you have a kitchen workspace or table enough! Simply amazing to watch!

Probajte samo u slučaju da imate dovoljno velik kuhinjski prostor ili sto! Prosto neverovatno za gledati!

A similar kind of method is also used to make Burek. I noticed that the bureks in Montenegro are different to the Serbian ones.

Sličan metod se takođe koristi za pravljenje bureka. Primetila sam da se burek u Crnoj Gori razlikuje od srpskog.

And then there is : Priganice (a kind of doughnut) that is eaten with the local cheese, honey and walnuts.

A tu su i priganice, vrsta krofni, koje se jedu sa lokalnim sirom, medom i orasima.
http://www.coolinarika.com/recept/crnogorske-priganice
http://www.coolinarika.com/recept/ustipcifritulepriganicevarijacije-na-temu

Prijatno! (Bon appétit!)

brzalica - tongue twister - virelangue

Club Francais brzalice , Serbian pronunciation

Un bouc noir broute le sommet noir d'un arbuste épineux; bouc noir, ne broute pas le sommet noir de l'arbuste épineux!

A black billy goat is chewing the thorny bush's black top; Don't chew, black billy goat, the thorny bush's black top!

Uskršnje Jutro

Marina serbian songs ,

Here is a link to a lovely video clip of a choir singing an Easter song:

Uskršnje Jutro

Čarolija

Uskršnje jutro kada se javi
Svakom na licu osmeh zablista.
Danas je praznik, danas se slavi
Dan vaskrsenja Isusa Hrista.

Šarena jaja na stolu stoje
U ispletenoj korpi od pruća.
Svako od nas će dobiti svoje
Ostaće jedno naš čuvar kuća.

Chorus (x2)
Pozdravimo Spasitelja
Njegova je bila želja
Da nas vodi ljubav, vera, nada.
Čovečanstvo neka celo
Isusovo sledi delo
Hristos Vaskrs!
Mir Božiji neka vlada!

Šarena jaja na stolu stoje
U ispletenoj korpi od pruća.
Svako od nas će dobiti svoje
Ostaće jedno naš čuvar kuća.

Pozdravimo Spasitelja
Njegova je bila želja
Da nas vodi ljubav, vera, nada.
Čovečanstvo neka celo
Isusovo sledi delo
Hristos Vaskrs!
Mir Božiji neka vlada!

Uskrs - Easter

Club Francais Srećan uskrs ,

Srećan Uskrs!
http://www.spc.rs/eng/happy_easter

the most common phrase spoken is:

Христос васкрсе (Hristos vaskrse) - Christ resurrected.
to which you will get the answer:
Ваистину васкрсе (Vaistina vaskrse) - truly resurrected.

A clip from a TV news programme on the subject of Easter:

Past tense in Serbian

Marina serbian conjugations , Serbian tennis players

Prošlo vreme, or Perfekt, as we call it in Serbian, is the past tense which covers all the English past tenses (the Past Simple, Past Continuous, Present and Past perfect). It is most commonly used tense for expressing past time events. The Aorist tense is also used, though not that often.

Formation of PERFECT in Serbian

Here is the formula for the Past Tense in Serbian:

LONG FORM:
Subject + present of TO BE + Past Participle (or literally: ' past participle adjective ' = glagolski pridev radni) For a very thorough explanation check this link.

Ti si plesala. (You were dancing.)

SHORT FORM:

Past Participle + present of TO BE

Plesala si.

It is formed by replacing the 'i/e/ati' or 'ći' infinitive ending of the verb with the past participle endings as follows:

Masc. Sg -o
Fem. Sg - la
N. Sg -lo
Masc. Pl -li
Fem. Pl - le
N. Pl -la

I will use the opportunity of this excellent video to introduce past tense verbs:

Novak je pobedio Federera.

Novakova devojka je skakala od sreće, a njegovi prijatelji su se radovali.

Federer je polomio reket, a posle je bacao flaše, što možete videti na snimku.

* With reflexive form of the word, the auxilliary "to be" is dropped in the third person singular, so :
"She woke up" = Ona se probudila. or Probudila se. (instead of ona je se probudila, or probudila je se)

For more Serbian video lessons check this page.

Google Tag Head

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Friday, June 19, 2009

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Personal pronouns in Serbian

Locative in Serbian

Gap-fill exercise

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Friday, June 05, 2009

Monday, June 01, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Friday, May 15, 2009

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

Saturday, April 04, 2009

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