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Don't forget to do this exercise based on the song lyrics!
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Don't forget to do this exercise based on the song lyrics!
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
One of the most useful things a student need, starting from the pre-intermediate level is to know verb collocations. That's why I'll try to connect the verbs and nouns from the previous posts and write a list of the most common collocations for the verb "to see" (videti):
- Verbs and phrases commonly used after "to see"
- vidim kako ... (np. vidi kako se to radi)
- vidimo se ponovo
- vidi taj izraz
- vidi da li ima ... (np. vidi da li ima hleba)
- vidi šta ... (np. vidi šta nam treba)
- vidi kako mi stoji (for example when you're trying sth. on, this phrase means "look how / if it suits=fits me" )
- Words before "to see"
- mogu videti / da vidim
- samo vidi
- želim da vidim
- volim da vidim
- dođi da vidiš
- zapanjio bi se da vidiš...
- drago mi je da vas vidim
- Adverbs collocated with "to see"
- + (ne)jasno (if a + is before the word, it means that the verb "videti" comes before that word. For example : videti + (ne)jasno = + (ne)jasno)
- jedva +
- odjednom + (commonly in the past tense: odjednom sam video)
- tačno +
- + kristalno-jasno
- slabo +
Do you have any other ideas which "videti" collocations are worth adding to the list ?
Monday, August 05, 2013
Now that you've practised a set of verbs which require the Accusative case, in different tenses and with different nouns ( which you have seen / broken / bought /sold / fixed / turned off / turned on etc.), it's time you did the same exercise, but this time with adjectives.
The topic of adjectives in Serbian is always tricky as they not only agree with the number and gender of the noun, but also with its case. While in some cases, like in the Accusative for example, the case endings are the same for the nouns and adjectives, it's not always that easy ( e.g. in the Genitive case).
That's why we'll stick to the Accusative case today, because we've already practised it and it's easy!
Let's watch the same video and add the following adjectives in front of each noun :
The topic of adjectives in Serbian is always tricky as they not only agree with the number and gender of the noun, but also with its case. While in some cases, like in the Accusative for example, the case endings are the same for the nouns and adjectives, it's not always that easy ( e.g. in the Genitive case).
That's why we'll stick to the Accusative case today, because we've already practised it and it's easy!
Let's watch the same video and add the following adjectives in front of each noun :
- MODERAN = modern
- JEFTIN = cheap
- SKUP = expensive
- VELIKI = big
- MALI = small
- NOVI = new
- STARI = old
- DOBAR = good
For example:
- Kupila sam veliki televizor i malU peglU.
- Htela sam da kupim i modernE lampE, ali bile su previše skupE!
- Na kraju sam kupila jeftinE tosterE. Jedan za mene a jedan za mamu.
As you can see, the Accusative form of the adjectives with nouns denoting inanimate objects is pretty straightforward - it simply agrees with the noun adding the final endings both for the Sg. and Pl. in the same manner as the noun. Let me share with you an exercise based on this blog post and the video (click on the question mark to get a hint which adjective to use).
Sunday, August 04, 2013
I'm sure you've thoroughly practised the verb "videti" with the video lesson with gadgets and appliances and the "conjugator video". Now it's time to learn to recognize different parts of speech with this verb through the list of common phrases and idioms in Serbian :
Verb form: VIDETI
Verb form: VIDETI
- Ooo, koga to vidim ! = expressing surprise when you see someone (As I leve and breathe!; Well, what do you know; Lo and behold)
- Imaš šta da vidiš! = something worth seeing ( A sight for sore eyes, Something to look at; A million-dollar look)
- Sad GA vidiš, sad GA ne vidiš = a fly-by-night (an unreliable, dishonest person) / now you see it, now you don't (a magician's trick)
- Što video, ne video = to turn a blind eye on sth.; mum's the word (to pretend not to have seen anything)
Noun form: VID (sight), VIDelo (sight / light), VIDik (view/perspective)
- Izneti (nešto) na videlo = to bring something to light (to reveal); to bring soemthing into the open
- Izgubiti (nešto) iz vida = to lose sight of something
- Imati (nešto) u vidu = to bear in mind, to take into account, to keep sight of something
- Nestati sa vidika = to recede from view / to vanish into thin air / to fade away
Gerund or "glagolska imenica" : VIĐENJE (ending in -nje, which corresponds with English -ing)
- Do (skorog) viđenja = so long (a farewell)
- Poznavati nekog iz viđenja = to know someone by sight / to have a nodding acquaintance with someone
Past Participle or Trpni glagolski pridev (adjective): VIĐEN (ending in -n or -t, which corresponds with English -ed or PP form of the verb)
- Rado viđen = popular, in high favour
Saturday, August 03, 2013
If you've practised the Accusative form of the nouns and pronouns with the video in the previous post, it's time to expand your confidence onto the verbs which require a noun/pronoun in this case. With all the listed nouns (TV, pegla, mobilni telefon, mašina za veš ...), the following verbs, properly conjugated, will make sense:
- videti (to see) Present Tense conjugations: Sg: vidIM, vidIŠ, vidI Pl: vidIMO, vidITE, vidE Past Tense : Sg: videO, videLA, videLO Pl: videLI, videLE, videLA
- gledati (to watch) gledAM, gledAŠ, gledA - gledAMO, gledATE, gledAJU ( for the following verbs you'll see only: PRESENT Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju and for the PAST Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la )
- imati (to have) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju (imaJU) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- koristiti (to use) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (koristE) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- raditi (to work) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (rade) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- popravljati (to fix) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -ju (popravljaju) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- uključiti (to turn on) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (uključe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- isključiti (to turn off) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (isključe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- kupiti (to buy) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (kupe) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- prodati (to sell) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (prodate) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- vratiti (to return) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (vrate) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- (po)kvariti se (to break down) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (pokvare) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
- baciti (to throw away) Sg: -m/-š/- Pl: -mo / -te / -e (bace) Past: Sg. -o/-la/-lo Pl. -li/-le/-la
If you are a beginner in Serbian, let's focus on the present simple tense and practise conjugating out loud with the:
- Serbian conjugator
- Video lesson about gadgets and appliances you use or don't use
Present tense examples:
- Imam telefon, ali GA ne gledam.
- Moj brat ima mašinu za sudove i često JE koristi.
If you are at an intermediate level, I guess that dealing with the past simple won't be much of the problem. The idea of this blog post is to encourage you to become more fluent and confident. That's why you can simply learn/revise past simple in Serbian and make a few similar sentences like in the example:
Past tense examples:
- Kupili smo mobilni telefon i čim smo GA uključili, odmah se pokvario.
- Moj sin je popravio peglu i kada sam videla kako dobro radi bacila sam JE.
Friday, August 02, 2013
Today we're going to do an exercise with singular nouns describing objects, their grammatical gender and its pronouns in the Accusative case. In this exercise you'll see the following appliances and gadgets:
- televizor
- mikser
- daljinski (upravljač)
- mobilni (telefon)
- telefon
- kompjuter
- frižider
- toster
- mašina za veš
- mašina za pranje veša
- lampa
The nouns in blue are masculine and the red ones are feminine, so don't forget to make the following changes:
- step TO SEE + NOUN: Vidim / Ne vidim televizor (masculine) /odelo (neuter) /lampU (feminine)
- step TO SEE + corresponding PRONOUN: Vidim / Ne vidim ga / je (short form for "him (ga = njega) / her (je=nju)")
- step: look around yourself and say what you can see/can't see (use only singular and pay attention that the neuter nouns, like "odelo" behaves the same as the nouns in masc.)
Thursday, August 01, 2013
I think it's been high time I resumed our regular, day-by-day postings with video lessons of the Serbian language. As usual, I'll do my best to help you in the most practical way with the interactive videos, like this one:
This is one of 65 lessons with more than 4.5 hours of content from the course Serbian Phrases, which has finally been completed. All the videos with slow pronunciation are based on phrase lists both in the Serbian Cyrillic and Latin script! There's also an ever-growing number of additional video exercises, like the one above. For all of you who'd like to buy the course and know how to say 'n' write "FaithfulFollower" in Serbian, will get a significant discount if they type it in the coupon code box :) Enjoy it!
This is one of 65 lessons with more than 4.5 hours of content from the course Serbian Phrases, which has finally been completed. All the videos with slow pronunciation are based on phrase lists both in the Serbian Cyrillic and Latin script! There's also an ever-growing number of additional video exercises, like the one above. For all of you who'd like to buy the course and know how to say 'n' write "FaithfulFollower" in Serbian, will get a significant discount if they type it in the coupon code box :) Enjoy it!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
If you are visiting Serbia and Montenegro in the upcoming months, I'm sure you'll enjoy learning a few useful words and phrases with this magnificent song:
Serbian : gde = where
Montenegrin version : gdje = where
Serbian and Montenegrin : tamo = there
Serbian : gde = where
Montenegrin version : gdje = where
Serbian and Montenegrin : tamo = there
Monday, June 10, 2013
This is one of the videos with the slow Serbian pronunciation of the words and phrases written in the Cyrillic script, which I'm currently creating. Feel free to leave your comments and feedback regarding the speed of pronunciation and usefulness of such video lessons.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
If you'd like to practice the conditional form used in polite questions in different situations, I'm sure you'll find this new video exercise fun and useful:
It's going to be the part of the complete Serbian Phrases course which is about to be released - watch this space!
The follow up exercise with feedback - click on the "check" button when you do it!
It's going to be the part of the complete Serbian Phrases course which is about to be released - watch this space!
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Since there'll be more visitors to Serbia in the upcoming period, I decided to launch the complete course called Serbian Phrases (this is a free e-book). In the meantime I want to show you one of the recordings:
and the structure of the course, which is divided into fifteen sections or topics. Each topic has the following structure:
and the structure of the course, which is divided into fifteen sections or topics. Each topic has the following structure:
- Slowly read phrases - video lesson
- Listed phrases as a pdf file, both in Cyrillic and Latin alphabet
- Slowly read phrases with Cyrillic text
- Dialogue AB
- Dialogue A
- Dialogue B
Saturday, June 01, 2013
If you like learning Serbian through songs and would like to check if you got the lyrics right, here comes the exercise in the Latin alphabet, which is great for practising pronouns ! For the additional exercises with this song do join my Activator list !
Songs with Exercises
Right mouse click leads you to the exercises with answers!
Songs with Exercises
Right mouse click leads you to the exercises with answers!
Friday, May 31, 2013
If you are confident in using numbers and telling the time in Serbian, you can use the same video in order to practise how the Simple Present tense in Serbian can be used to express both:
|
| Serbian Phrases free e-book |
- Future arrangement: Šta radiš u utorak u 2?
- Present habit: Šta radiš utorkOM u 2 ?
Sunday, May 05, 2013
Dear followers,
I wish you all a very happy Orthodox Easter with a few useful links to prepare you to greet your friends and family and learn something new about this day:
I wish you all a very happy Orthodox Easter with a few useful links to prepare you to greet your friends and family and learn something new about this day:
- Church calendar
- Serbian greetings for Easter
- Easter morning song
- Pronunciation - your questions answered
Saturday, May 04, 2013
If you like learning a language by solving puzzles, this video "zagonetka" is perfect for you:
There's an additional exercise page, but make sure you write the answers in the Serbian Cyrillic script in order to get the proper feedback (simply click "check" button after filling in the gaps).
There's an additional exercise page, but make sure you write the answers in the Serbian Cyrillic script in order to get the proper feedback (simply click "check" button after filling in the gaps).
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Let's just practise the verb "to be" in the imperative mood with this video and the follow-up exercise:
Informally: "budi"
Formally or for 2nd person Plural: "budite"
Don't forget to check out the previous posts covering intermediate and pre-intermediate Serbian.
Informally: "budi"
Formally or for 2nd person Plural: "budite"
Don't forget to check out the previous posts covering intermediate and pre-intermediate Serbian.
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