Learn Serbian

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Personal Pronouns in Accusative

Marina personal pronouns in Serbian , pronouns in Serbian

In the previous post you could see the different forms of pronouns in the Accusative case in Serbian:

There are quite a lot of verbs which require the Accusative, and "voleti" or "to love" obviously requires a direct object. Therefore you'll come across this form in many a song:

MENE / ME Da li me voliš? = Voliš li me? (me)
TEBE/ TE Ja te volim = Volim te (you)
NJU / JU / JE Volim je / Bože, koliko je volim (her)
NJEGA / GA Pustite da ga volim / Volim ga majko (him)
NAS Da ima nas (us)*(couldn't find "love + us" songs, so I added "have + us")
VAS Ja vas volim obe (you, Plural)
NJIH / IH Volim ih (them)

The same goes for the verb ZVATI. Since we are going to practice Serbian with two songs with this verb, let's start with a bit of theory:

and then let's practice with a game:

If you like these Quizlet exercises, here's one more with the verbs to see and to go to (Videti i Ići u + Akuzativ)

Finally, when you feel confident using the pronouns in Accusative, let's sing the following songs in

the Simple Present tense: Zovem te = I'm calling you

Zovem ______ zovem, a ti tako

nećeš da čuješ zov iz duše

zovem ______ zovem ko zna gde si

dok moji snovi već se ruše

Ref. 2x

Zovem ______ zovem, noću te sanjam

uzalud širim ruke svoje

zovem ______ zovem, al' čemu sve to

ti drugu ljubiš oko moje

Zovem______ zovem, a ti tako

ni pismom jednim da se javiš

zovem ______ zovem noći svake

a ti ne čuješ ili se praviš

Ref. 2x

Zovem ______ zovem, gde si mili

traže ______ moje vlažne oči

zovem ______ zovem srećni bi bili

javi mi dal' ćeš nekad doći

Ref. 2x

the Simple Past tense: Zvao sam je Emili = I called her Emily

Poći ću u šume da ____ opet tražim

uz tišinu rijeke da ___ mirno sanjam

i dok mesec sija gledaću u zvijezde

ne bih li ___ sreo sretnu i daleku

aha, aha, aha

Zvao sam ___ Emili

u moj je san ko u svoj ušla dom

zbog nje se dan pretvorio u noć

i pjesme sve poludjele zbog nje

kao kiše prolećne

Zvao sam ____ Emili

u danima kad voljesmo se mi

od proljeća do kasne jeseni

zbog nje, zbog nje izgubio sam sve

čak i dobre drugove

Zvao sam ____ Emili

the Future Simple tense: Zvaću te pile moje = I will call you my chick(en)

How to Practice Personal Pronouns through Cases

Marina personal pronouns in Serbian , pronouns in Serbian

If you are familiar with the personal pronouns in Serbian in the Nominative case, it's time for you to their different forms through various cases.

The clever way is to approach these more complicated forms through the texts you've done before, using the pronouns instead of nouns. For example:

If we turn all the nouns into the corresponding pronouns, we would get a fun story:

Želim da kupim njih. = Želim da ih kupim.
Da li imate njih, ali u plavoj boji? = Da li ih imate, ali plave?
Da li možete da mi pokažete nju i njih = Da li možete da mi je pokažete i da mi ih pokažete?
Želim da kupim nju, nju i nju i njih. = Želim da je kupim i želim da ih kupim.

Now I have two questions:

What does each pronoun in bold refer to?
What changes does the word order cause?

However, the easiest way is to learn pronouns is through songs and exercises:

Personal pronouns in the Dative with "Kafu mi draga ispeci"
Personal pronoun "we" in different forms with "Moja draga"
Personal pronouns in the Accusative and possessive adjectives with "Dudo"
Mixed personal pronouns with "Tako mi svega"

Since the courses Serbian 101 and Serbian 102 deal with the following cases:

Nominative (JA - TI/VI - ON - ONA - ON // MI - VI - ONI)
Accusative

in Serbian 102 I introduced the pronouns in the Accusative:

Accusative (MENE / SEBE - TEBE/ VAS - NJEGA - NJU(JE) - NJEGA // NAS - VAS - NJIH)

In Serbian 201 I introduce the pronouns in the Locative and Instrumental case:

Locative ( o MENI/ SEBI - TEBI - VAMA - NJEMU - NJOJ - NJEMU // NAMA - VAMA - NJIMA)
Instrumental (SA MNOM/SOBOM - TOBOM - VAMA - NJIM - NJOM - NJIM // NAMA - VAMA - NJIMA)

and we will practice them together in the next post!

Beautiful Songs about Serbia - Serbia mía

Marina serbian songs ,

Have you ever heard of this beautiful song about Serbia, by Mirko Radović? If not, I am sure you will enjoy listening to it now and come back to it because if its gentleness and a catchy tune!

In case you don't understand Spanish, I'll share with you the author's words about the song,

"Rodio sam se daleko, i tek nakon više od 50 godina sam uspeo da se povežem sa mojom porodicom. Nikada neću zaboraviti taj trenutak. Siguran sam da su me moj otac i baba i deda gledali sa neba i da su danas jako srećni zbog toga. Ova pesma je istinita priča o mom ponovnom susretu sa domovinom, pretočena u stihove."

along with the lyrics in Spanish

*** Lyrics ***

Serbia mía

Siento el silbido que despierta, Siento el dulce aroma de un café

Siento cada abrazo, cada beso y las caricias
Que la noche nos dejó tan solo ayer
Siento que mis manos aún te buscan
Siento que tuvimos que partir
Siento cada calle, cada plaza, cada parque
Los rincones que nos vieron sonreir…
Lo siento, Serbía mía, y volver será un nuevo empezar
Siento cada pena, cada angustia, cada llanto
Que tu rostro inocente ayer marcó
Y si la noche se acaba, celebra conmigo que el día volvió

Lo siento, Serbía mía, y lo siento cada día más y más
Siento recordar lo que fuímos, siento el fuego vil que nos quebró
No importa que estés muy lejos, la paz es tu abrigo, el sol es tu voz
Y si la noche se acaba, celebra conmigo que el día volvió

and its translation:

*** Translation ***

Srbijo moja

Osećam zvuk koji me budi,
osećam slatki miris jutra.
Osećam svaki zagrljaj, svaki poljubac i dodire
koje nam je prošla noć ostavila.
Osećam da mi ruke još tebe traže.
Osećam da smo morali otići.
Osećam svaku ulicu, svaki trg, svaki park,
sva mesta koja su nas videla.

Osećam te, Srbijo moja
i osećam te svakim danom više i više
Osećam te Srbijo moja
i vratiću se tebi ponovo.
Sećam se što smo nekada bili.
Osećam vatru koja rastavlja
Osećam svaki bol, svaku muku, svaki krik
koje je proslost na licu ostavila.
Nije važno što si daleko,
mir je tvoj spas,
Sunce je tvoj glas.
Iako je noći kraj,
slavi sa mnom,

jer dan se vratio.

Although the song was released a few years ago, a wonderful piece of news was to learn that this song dedicated to Serbia was picked by a Peruvian corporate chain to be played in their offices :) No wonder why! Congratulations, Mirko!

Vocabulary in Serbian - Rooms and Furniture

Marina rooms in a flat , Serbian vocabulary

While working on my Serbian language courses, I keep creating tests, exercises, video lessons and fun games. The beauty of technology nowadays is that everything is so "shareable" and "embedable" :)

Furniture in Serbian - Flash Cards with Pronunciation

Simply type the word you hear (on the right hand side you'll see the explanation in English)

Practicing Serbian Cyrillic with New Vocabulary

Match the same words in Latin and Cyrillic script

Doing Fun Rooms 'n' Furniture Vocabulary Exercises in Serbian

Exercise 1: Unfortunately, this one is not embeddable, simply click here.

Exercise 2 is very similar to the previous one - simply click on the point which shows the word written at the top of the picture.

Practicing Superlatives - Advanced Serbian

Marina Listening comprehension , listening comprehension skills

It really makes my day when I come across an excellent video in Serbian with perfect pronunciation, along with subtitles. This is exactly what I want to share with you today! After watching this video you could choose only five photos out of ten to tell me which photo is the funniest, the most incredible, the stupidest, the best and the most interesting one!

Speaking Exercise with Superlatives in Serbian

Dok gledate video odlučite koja fotografija je

najsmešnija (smešan = funny)
najneverovatnija (neverovatan = impossible)
najgluplja (glup =stupid)
najbolja (dobar = good)
najinteresantnija (interesantan = interesting)

i ostavite (audio) odgovor u komentaru ispod:

Serbian for Children with Songs

Marina Serbian for children , serbian songs

A few weeks ago I started creating simple lessons for children who are learning Serbian across the world. At first I thought there would be lack of simple and fun songs for the first few lessons, but as it transpired I was wrong. On Nykk Deetronic's Youtube channel I came across a few great songs, such as:

as well as easy to understand short cartoons, such as

Today I would like to share a version of Nykk's "Pilići smo mi" by IDJKids, with additional fun exercises I created:

Serbian for Children with Songs

Which words are missing? (More about the verb TO BE in Serbian)

Piju, piju, piju - piju, piju, piju x 3
Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju x3
Mama govori "Koko roko koko da"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "Kukuriku kukuku"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "av, av, av, av, av"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "mjau x5"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "mu, mu, mu, mu,mu"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "grok, grok, grok, grok, grok"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "me, me, me, me,me"

Mi ____ pilići
Piju, piju, piju
Mali radosni
Jupi, jupi piju
________ govori "kva, kva, kva, kva, kva"

Exercise for Serbian for Children Lesson

Lekcija 7 - Glagol biti

If you like the exercises and Serbian video lessons and courses I am creating, I'd like to invite you to support me through Patreon. Your help is much appreciated :)

Serbian Vowels Pronounced

Marina Serbian pronunciation , Vowels in Serbian

Let me announce that the time of low quality video lessons is over. I am sure you will enjoy watching one of the introductory videos on how to pronounce Serbian vowels with a brand new tool :)

Serbian Vowels

Although there are only five + one vowels in Serbian: A, E, I, O & U + R, one must take into account that there is also a distinction between long and short vowels. This difference is not seen in orthography, but the stressed ones are more often the longer ones.

Today I simply want to introduce you to the simplicity of the pronunciation of the basic five vowels, and then in the following videos we'll work on the pronunciation of the "sixth vowel" in Serbian, the syllable forming R, as well as the long and short vowel pronunciation and stress within a word.

Practicing Pronouns in Serbian

Marina personal pronouns in Serbian , pronouns in Serbian

Let's practice pronouns in Serbian while singing this beautiful song :)

Future Tense in Serbian

Marina future tense in Serbian ,

It's simply not enough to understand how to form the future tense in Serbian and its somewhat complicated word order! You need to practise as much as possible.

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 :)

Learning Serbian by Singing with Sanja Vučić

Marina Listening comprehension , listening comprehension skills

This is the perfect moment for you to meet our gorgeous Sanja Vučić and practice Serbian while listening to this interview,

and doing a listening comprehension exercise based on her story:

Odakle je Sanja?
Koliko ima godina?
Kada je snimljen ovaj intervju?
Gde Sanja sada živi?
Šta je želela da studira?
Gde je njena mama sada?
Od kada Sanja prati Evroviziju?
Kako se zvala njena osnovna škola?
Da li je Sanja bila bolji đak u osnovnoj ili srednjoj školi?
Ko Sanju podržava?
Koju vrstu muzike Sanjini roditelji vole?
Kako je Sanja opisala svoju majku?
Da li Sanja ima dečka trenutno?
Gde je sve Sanja pevala?
Da li Sanja sada želi da bude operska pevačica?
Kada je Sanja bila jako srećna?
Koje trenutke Sanja uvek zaboravlja?

... or practice singing with her

p.s. don't forget to vote for her tonight!

Stress Patterns in Serbian

Marina stress in Serbian ,

The following two videos are great for the students at upper-intermediate and advanced levels who are interested in stress patterns in Serbian and who can easily read Serbian Cyrillic script.

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian

Marina Serbian adjectives ,

When I started teaching Serbian I relied on the textbooks which taught commonly used adjectives one might need, such as "gladan" (hungry), "žedan" (thirsty), "lep" (beautiful), srećan (happy), tužan (sad) etc. This makes sense, doesn't it?

However, when I flicked through the list of the most frequently used adjectives I was surprised to find out that none of the "useful" ones was listed!!! That's why I made three sets of Quizlet exercises and recorded the pronunciation for the each of the 15 most frequent adjectives in Serbian, so you can learn them by choosing the activity you like best:

Flash cards
Learning activity
Spelling activity
Tests
Scatter game
Gravity game
Spacerace game

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Masc. Sg. Form

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Fem. Sg. Form

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Neut. Sg. Form

If you just started learning Serbian it can prove useful simply to do different quizlet activities to help you understand as much as possible at first. The most beautiful thing with Quizlet activities is that you can learn by playing games of Gravity and Spacerace! You can also access Quizlet on your mobile and practice while you are commuting! Finally, they are free (no need to buy anything, just register through Fb og Google to track your results, nothing more)!

Next time we'll practice these words in context!

Aspect in Serbian with Verbs Describing House Chores

Marina aspect in Serbian ,

How to Practice Aspect in Serbian?

When talking about aspect in Serbian, I must admit it is best learnt by using the phrases in everyday situations. A good example is a set of the most frequently used verbs when talking about house chores:

Imperfective vs. Perfective Aspect in Serbian

Prati / oprati sudove = to be washing / to wash the dishes
Raspremati / raspremiti = to be tidying up / to tidy up
Usisati / usisavati = to be hoovering / to hoover
Čistiti / (p)očistiti = to be cleaning / to clean
Brisati / obrisati = to be wiping / to wipe
Kuvati / skuvati = to be cooking / to cook
Pržiti / ispržiti = to be frying / to fry
Peći / ispeći = to be baking / to bake
Peglati / opeglati = to be ironing / to iron

Extensive Reading and Listening 1

Marina Listening comprehension , listening comprehension skills

It is such a delight to simply watch fun films, series or cartoons or read interesting books in Serbian and pick up the language, isn't it? This is known as extensive reading (or listening). It helps one to speed up the learning process and expand vocabulary very quickly and effortlessly. With authentic films and novels it helps you improve from an intermediate to more advanced levels.

That is why I am sharing with you the well known Pop Ćira and Pop Spira series based on the novel by Stevan Sremac.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

For more similar series and films, check out this Youtube playlist - click here.

Common Mistakes in Serbian - 2

Marina common mistakes ,

Another fun video about the most common mistakes in Serbian is coming your way:

Common Mistakes in Serbian

So, which of these are the correct options:

a. bombona
b. bonbona
c. ne bi
d. ne bih
e. nizašta
f. ni za šta

Learn Serbian Phrases with Beogradski Sindikat 1

Marina serbian songs , Serbian vocabulary

I guess it is just the perfect time to learn a bunch of commonly used phrases and collocations in Serbian with a newly released song "Sistem te laže" by Beogradski sindikat.

I created a new kind of exercise, with dropdown suggested answers, so you don't need to write while listening to the song, but simply click on the option you hear. You can also try to do the exercise before listening to the song, in order to guess what's missing.

Make sure you listen to the song once again, following the same lyrics in the Cyrillic script!

Google Tag Head

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Furniture in Serbian - Flash Cards with Pronunciation

Practicing Serbian Cyrillic with New Vocabulary

Doing Fun Rooms 'n' Furniture Vocabulary Exercises in Serbian

Friday, September 16, 2016

Speaking Exercise with Superlatives in Serbian

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Serbian for Children with Songs

Exercise for Serbian for Children Lesson

Sunday, August 07, 2016

Serbian Vowels

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Future Tense in Serbian

Future Tense in Serbian with "Ej žalim žalim"

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Friday, May 13, 2016

Monday, May 09, 2016

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Masc. Sg. Form

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Fem. Sg. Form

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Neut. Sg. Form

Saturday, May 07, 2016

How to Practice Aspect in Serbian?

Imperfective vs. Perfective Aspect in Serbian

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Common Mistakes in Serbian

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

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