grammar: Ok�this is my attempt to explain nouns and cases�I was trying to work on finding

patterns, and I hope that will make it easier for you to learn

Nouns in Serbian are in singular and plural, and there are thee grammatical genders: masculine,
feminine and neuter

1) Maculine nouns:
1a- most masculine nouns in the nominative singular (cases will be explained later, for now, it�s
important to know that nominative is the first- basic noun case) end in a consonant
e.g. siN = son
momaK = a young man

1b- a smaller group of masculine nouns in the nominative singular end in -o

e.g. posaO � job
anđeO � angel
smisaO � sense

1c- some personal names might end in a vowel

e.g. MarkO
NikolA
HrvojE

1d- many words of foreign origin that in the nominative singular end in vowels are also masculine
e.g. autO � car
pirE � mashed potatoes
intervjU � interview

2) Feminine nouns:
2a- most feminine nouns in nominative singular have the ending �a
e.g. �enA � woman
klupA � desk
tugA � sadness

2b- a smaller group of nouns ending in a consonant are feminine

e.g. ljubaV � love
noć � night

2c- also, all abstract nouns ending in consonant with the suffix �ost are feminine
e.g. mladOST- youth
�alOST- sorrow

3) Neuter nouns
3a- most neuter nouns in nominative singular end in �o or �e
e.g. selO � village
poljE � field
detE � child

also...it's mportant to know demonstrative pronouns that go with nouns of each gendre:

'this': ovaj, ova, ovo

�these�: ovi, ove, ova
eg. Masculine singular: this man � ovaj čovek
Feminine singular: this woman � ova �ena
Neuter singular: this child � ovo dete

Masculine plural: these men � ovi ljudi

Feminine plural: these women � ove �ene
Neuter plural: these children � ova deca

'that' � taj, ta, to

'those' � ti, te, ta

e.g. Masc. Sing.: that roof� taj krov

Fem. Sing.: that house � ta kuća
Neut. Sing.: that field � to polje

Masc. Pl.: those roofs � ti krovovi

Fem. Pl. : those houses � te kuće
Neut. Pl.: those fields � ta polja

Exercise:

1. determine the gender of nouns and give your reasoning for the choice that you made:
e.g. �ivot � life = masculine singular, follows 1a rule that most of the nouns ending in consonant are
masculine

a) pijatelj - friend
b) stan � apartment
c) ruka - hand
d) drvo � tree
e) taksi � taxi
f) Darko
g) krava � cow
h) radost � joy
i) nebo � sky
j) pile � chicken

2) put a demonstrative of your choice ( �this� or �that�) that corresponds to the nouns from the
first exercise.
e.g. ovaj �ivot � this life, taj �ivot- that life (remember that demonstrative pronouns agree with a
noun in gender and number)

3) try to make plural form of the words from the first exercise, and add demonstrative nouns to them.
e.g. plural form of �ivot is �ivoti
these lives � ovi �ivoti
those lives � ti �ivoti

introduction to cases: Every noun is Serbian undergoes changes and has different forms, that
belong to specific cases, which are determined by the particular situation, that it, what is being said at
the time.
There are 7 cases in Serbian language:
1. Nominative
2. genitive
3. dative
4. accusative
5. vocative
6. instrumental
7. locative

I will go through each one of the cases, in an attempt to explain their role, usage�so bare with me�at
the end I�ll make a table of some of the most common patterns�.if you don�t understand, please let
me know�because I, myself, find this to be a very difficult grammar section to explain to non-natives

Abbreviations:
m.- masculine
f. � feminine
n. � neuter
sg. � singular
pl. � plural
nom. � nominative
gen. � genitive
dat.- dative
acc.- accusative
voc. � vocative
inst. � instrumental
loc. � locative
adj. - adjective

NOMINATIVE: 1) NOMINATIVE
Nominative is the first and basic case in Serbian language. We call it also �a case of the subject�,
because it answers the question Ko je to? / �to je to? ( Who is it? / What is it? ). Dictionaries classify
nouns according to their nominative case form.
Roles:
a) a role of a subject in the sentence
e.g. Ptica leti. � A bird flies.
Ptica � nom. f. sg.

b) the part of the predicate with the copula�.descriptive predicate�the one that uses verb �to be�
e.g. ovo je lijepa slika. � this is a nice painting
�je lijepa slika� is a descriptive predicate in the sentence
je- 3rd person sg. present, verb �to be� � biti
slika � nom. f. sg.
lijepa � adj. f. sg. nom. (remember that adjectives in Serbian agree with nouns they describe in
number (here sg.), in gender (here f.) and in case (here nom.))

GENITIVE: 2) GENITIVE
Genitive is the second case and can be recognized by asking questions like koga/čega se to tiče?
(whom or what does it concern?) ,

Roles:
a) to indicate possession
to je imanje mog oca. � that is my father's property
imanje (m), pl. imanja � property
mog- adj. gen. m. sg.
oca � gen. m. sg.

b) with partitive meaning; this happens frequently after verbs as piti-to drink, uzeti/uzimati- to take
e.g. dajte mi vode i sira. � give me some water and some cheese.*
* in serbian you don't necessarily need to emphasize word 'some' � ne�to
Dajte � comes from dati-to give, imperative, 2nd person pl.
Vode- comes from voda (f), - water...
Sira � comes from sir (m) � cheese

If you, however want to say 'Give me the water and the cheese' then you would use accusative...i'll
talk about it later...and it would mean you're talking about the whole amount 'dajte mi vodu i sir'

c) after reflexive verbs such as:

bojati se � to be afraid of
čuvati se � to be wary of
dr�ati se � to catch hold of
hvatati se � to have recourse to
izbavljati se � to get rid of
li�avati se � to deprive oneself of
oprostiti se � to part from
ma�ati se � to reach out for
pla�iti se � to be afraid of
prepasti se � to shrink from
primati se � to adhere to
rje�avati se � to get rid of
sramiti se � to be ashamed of

e.g. bojimo se ispita. � we�re affraid of the examination.

Bojimo se- comes from bojati se � to be afraid of, therefore�a noun ispit (m) , pl. ispiti � exam,
examination is in genitive

d) in certain expressions of time; in this usage however, the noun cannot stand on its own�it must be
accompanied by an adjective or by a modifier
e.g. Pro�le godine sam putovao Evropom. � Last year I traveled through Europe.
Godine- dat. f. sg. � comes from godina (f) � year
Pro�le - is a modifier , it means last, comes from pro�la- adj. f.

e) after following words of general measurement:

dosta- enough
koliko � how much, how many
malo � little of, a few
manje � less, fewer
mnogo � a lot, many, much of
nekoliko � some, any, several
toliko � so much, so many
vi�e � more

e.g. on ima dosta novca za put � he has enough money for the trip
novca- gen. m. sg. Comes from novac (m), pl. novci � money and in this case it�s after dosta

f) after all numbers except �one� (jedan/jedna/jedno) in masculine and neuter form
e.g. tri pjesnika- three poets
pjesnik (m), pl. pjesnici � poet

g) after certain adjectives such as:

dostojan � worthy of
gladan � hungry
pun � full
sit- satiated
svjestan � conscious of
vrijedan � deserving of
�edan � thirsty
�eljan � desirous

e.g. oni su dostojni nagrade- they are worthy of a price

nagrada (f) � price, here. After dostojan, dostojni- 3rd person pl. m. agrees with oni- they,m.pl.

h) after the exclamatory particles evo, eto, eno

e.g. Evo mog supruga! � her's my husband now!
Eto mog sina! � there's my son (coming)!

i) after a large number of prepositions that I�ll concentrate on in a separate section later

DATIVE and LOCATIVE: Dative and locative are extemely close to each other in form and
roles...sometimes difficult to distinguish...but, the most important difference to remember is that
dative is the case of movement, therefore, in the sentence usually follows verbs of movement, action,
change...while locative is 'the static' case, therefore, describes place, time, manner *

3) DATIVE
Dative is a third noun case, and could be used in answers to questions such as:
Kome/ čemu daje�? � to whom or to what you�re giving?

Roles:
a) to indicate the recipient of an object
e.g. Otac je dao pismo sinu. � the father gave the letter to the son.
To whom? To the son- sinu- gen. m. sg. Comes from sin (m), pl. sinovi- son

b) to indicate possession through the logical subject:

djetetu su ruke prljave � child�s hands are dirty.
Dijete (n), pl. djeca � child
Whose hands are dirty? Or to whom are hands dirty? (not amazingly correct to say it this way in
English, but I�m just trying to help you understand the question in dative)

c) to indicate the person (sometimes a thing) affected by some action or verbal situation
e.g. Otvori mi vrata � open the doors for me.
mi- dat. � short form of meni- meaning �to me�

d) following verbs are usually followed by nouns or pronouns in the dative case:
činiti se � to seem
dopadati se � to be pleasing to
pomagati � to help
pripadati � to belong to
slu�iti � to be of service to
smetati � to disturb
sviđati se � to be pleasing to/ to like
vjerovati � to believe

e.g. pripadam novoj generaciji. - i belong to the new generation

generaciji � dat. f. sg. � comes from generacija (f), pl. generacije � generation
novoj � dat. adj. f. sg. � comes from nova (f) � new, and here agrees with a noun generacija in
gender, case and number

e) after the impersonal construction of adverb plus �je�- 3rd person sg. Verb �to be�-biti
e.g. drago mi je � it�s my pleasure
mi- short form of meni- �to me�
te�ko je majci � it�s difficult for a mother
majci- comes from majka (f)- mother

f) after prepositions ka � towards, prema- towards, uprkos � in spite of

Idi ka zgradi. � go towards the building.
Zgradi- comes from zgrada (f), pl. zgrade- building

7) LOCATIVE
Locative is the seventh case, and as previously said, it�s a �static�, more descriptive case�it gives
answers to questions like O kome/ o čemu govori�? ( who are you talking about? Or what are you
talking about? )

Role:
a) object of the preposition- after prepositions u � in, na- on (in their connotation of �location�) and
after po � by, in, pri- next to, o- about, nasuprot � on the opposite side
e.g. sjedimo na terasi � we�re sitting on the balcony
terasi- comes from terasa (f), pl. terase � balcony, here used after �na�=�on�

* coming back to the beginning of our little dative- locative voyage, I just want to illustrate that main
difference after you�re familiar with the roles of each one of them:

e.g. for dative: Idemo kući � we're going home

why is dative used here? Because we have a verb of movement in the sentence ...idemo- 1st person
plural of the verb ići � 'to go'

e.g. for locative: sjedimo u kući � we're sitting in the house

two reasons for using locative:
1) sjedimo- comes from verb 'sjedati' � to be sitting down- and represents a 'stationary' verb...it's
descriptive in nature
2) second reason is our preposition 'u'- in...we mentioned before that locative follows 'u'

ACCUSATIVE: 4) ACCUSATIVE

Accusative is the fourth case of nouns and answers the question Koga ili �to vidi�? � whom or what
do you see?

Roles:
a) it's the case of a direct object
e.g. Imam novu torbu. � I have a new bag
torbu- comes from torba (f), pl. Torbu � bag....here it's the object of the action...of verb 'imati'- to
have

b) in certain expressions of time

radio je u restoranu mjesec dana. � he worked in a resaurant for a month
* mjesec (m) , pl. Mjeseci - month
it might be confusing for some of you why we say that mjesec in the above sentence is in accusative
when it has the same form as nominative case...the reason for it is the role word 'mjesec' plays in the
sentence...it's an expression of time, not a subject...and we said before that nominative is the case of
subject only
e.g. donosim paket � i'm bringing a package
paket �m. acc. sg. � because its role in the sentence is the one of an indirect object
paket je te�ak- the package is heavy
paket- m. nom.sg. � because paket here is the subject of the sentence

** in genitive d) we already mentioned that gen. can determine the time, but we also emphasized
that it cannot stand on its own without an adjective or a modifier...while in accusative it can stand
without any of them.
e.g. radio sam u resoranu pro�log mjeseca. � i worked in the restaurant last month.
It has that 'pro�log' in it � from pro�li- last, therefore in genitive
Radio sam u restoranu mjesec dana � i worked in a restaurant for a month
No modifiers therefore it's in accusative

c) after prepositions �u�- in, �na�- on, �o�- about, �pod�- under, �nad�- above, �pred�- in
front, �za�- behind, �među� � in between , when they serve as a terminus for an act of motion *
e.g. Stavio sam knjigu na sto. � i put a book on the table.
The action is over, therefore, that �na�-on, serves as a terminus
And �sto� � table, has the same from as in nominative�but it�s role is to determine dirction or
place, therefore it�s not nominative

* going back to our explanations for locative and remembering that we mentioned in the rule a) that
locative is used after �u� or �na�, let�s see the difference between these two cases
we mentioned that locative is stationary case, while here, our accusative that follows �u� or �na�
specifies the end of an action
e.g. stavio sam knjigu na sto- I put the book on the table
sto-acc.m. sg. � on the table
e.g. knjiga je na stolu. � the book is on the table�.no action is visible�we�re not moving that book
or putting it, we�re not changing its position, therefore�sto- in this case stolu- is loc.m.sg.

d) after prepositions �kroz�- through, �mimo�- past by, other then, �niz�- downwards, �uz�-
upwards, �po�- for, �za�- for
e.g. Put void uz rijeku- the road leads up the river.
Rijeku-acc.f.sg. � comes from rijeka (f), pl. rijeke � river

VOCATIVE: 5) VOCATIVE
it�s a fifth case, used for �calling� people, objects�that is, summoning their attention or addressing
them.

Role:
a) it plays an important role in direct speech, therefore, it�s used in literature works mostly, in
poetry, drama etc.
- it applies to the names or titles of people to whom one wishes to talk
Gospodine Markoviću, kako ste? � Mr. Markovic, how are you doing?
- also, in a stylistic figure in poetry, when one personifies etc.
e.g. na�a mila Boko, nevjesto Jadrana! � our dear Boka, the bride of the Adriatic Sea!
This is the first verse from a poem written by Aleksa �antić, called 'Boka'*
'Boka' is one of the 20 most beautiful bays in the world, on the south-west of Montenegro...it's
gorgeous...seriosuly! its full name is 'Boka Kotorska'
INSTRUMENTAL: 6) INSTRUMENTAL

Yeah! We're almost done with the roles of cases!

Instrumental is the sixth case that answers the question 's kim, sa čime?' � with who, with what

Roles:
a) designation of instrument by which some action is accomplished:
e.g. Đak pi�e olovkom - a student writes with (by means of) a pencil.
With what? With a pencil- olovkom � comes from olovka (f), pl. Olovke- pencil
Idem u �kolu autobusom. � I'm going to school by bus.
Autobusom-inst.m.sg. � comes from autobus (m), pl. Autobusi- bus

b) it answers the question 'kuda' � where to, which way

�etamo gradom. � We�re walking through the city.
Gradom- comes from grad (m), pl. gradovi- city

c) it may designate specific units of time:

jutrom � in the morning, every morning, on mornings
noću � at night. Nights
subotom � Saturdays
večerom � in the evening, every evening
zorom � at dawn
e.g. idem na posao zorom. � I go to work at dawn.
Zorom- comes from zora (f), pl. zore- dawn

d) after the following verbs:

baviti se � to engage in
gospodovati � to master over
obilovati � to abound in
trgovati � to trade, to deal in
upravljati � to govern, to manage
vladati � to rule
zanimati se � to occupy oneself with
zapovijedati � to order, to command
e.g. On vlada dr�avom � he rules the country
dr�avom comes from dr�ava (f), pl dr�ave � country

I've noticed that the genitive case is used when saying \"one day\". Jednog dana

Can you explain this to me? Because I thought that the genitive case was only for numbers other than
one. Is the genitive used here because it is a general expression of time? - jednog dana

What you're mentioning here is called the TEMPORAL GENITIVE - it is used in expressions of time
and has an adverbial function. Yes, you're right, it is generally used in response to the question
'when?'.

Ona pere kosu SVAKOG DANA. - She washes her hair every day

IDUĆE SUBOTE idemo na more. - We're going to the coast next Saturday.

***
In all other situations just follow the rule mentioned above.

Jedan ČOVJEK je došao. - One man came.

Dva ČOVJEKA su došla. - Two men came.