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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Accidents and Emergencies - Vocabulary and Phrases in Serbian

phrases in Serbian , Serbian language 365
Accidents and Emergencies - Vocabulary and Phrases in Serbian
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)
  • Nesrećan slučaj (accident)
  1. Kvar (breakdown)
  2. Služba za hitnu popravku (emergency breakdown service)
  3. Sudar (accident, collision)
  4. Osiguranje (insurance)
  5. Automobil mi se pokvario (my car has broken down)
  6. Vaše osiguranje (Your insurance documents)
  7. Prijaviti sudar (to report an accident)
  8. To je vaša krivica (it's your fault )
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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Beginner Serbian - New Lesson with Exercises

Serbian adjectives , Serbian language 365
Beginner Serbian - New Lesson with Exercises

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
  1. JE = IS
  1. OVO JE = THIS IS...
  1. BRAT = BROTHER
  1. SESTRA = SISTER
  1. MUŽ = HUSBAND
  1. ŽENA = WIFE
  1. LEP = BEAUTIFUL (Fem: lepa)
  1. MLAD = YOUNG (Fem: mlada)
  1. RUŽAN = UGLY (Fem: ružna)
  1. STAR = OLD (Fem: stara)
  1. VISOK = TALL (Fem: visoka)
  1. NIZAK = SHORT (Fem: niska)
  1. IMATI = TO HAVE
  1. GODINA = YEARS
  1. DETE = CHILD, DECA  = CHILDREN
  1. BLIZANCI  = TWINS
  1. JOŠ = STILL
  1. MALI = YOUNG / LITTLE / SMALL
  1. PAS = DOG
*** POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES ***
  • MOJ -mojA sestrA - mojE detE - mojI prijateljI - mojE prijateljicE - mojA decA
  • TVOJ
  • NJEGOV
  • NJEN
  • NJEGOV
  • NJIHOV
  • NJIHOV
  • NJIHOV


Exercise 1 - Verbs are missing. You can mute the video in order to do the exercise on your own.

Exercise 2 - Make a similar story about your family.

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Word Order in Serbian - Future Tense

future tense in Serbian , Serbian language 365
Word Order in Serbian - Future Tense
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

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
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Who is More Dangerous ?

adjective comparison in Serbian , Serbian language 365
Who is More Dangerous ?
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


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Sunday, August 18, 2013

Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"

common phrases , Serbian idioms
Serbian Idioms and Phrases with "faliti"
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 ;-)
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Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
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