STUDY GUIDE

Learn Serbian. Have fun.

LESSON 98

GRAMMAR
VOCABULARY
PRACTICE
ANSWER KEY

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GRAMMAR
SERBIAN DECLENSIONS – PLURAL NEUTER NOUNS & ADJECTIVES

In the last lesson we learned how to decline the words lepa mora, which means
beautiful seas, in all 7 cases and got introduced to the declension patterns for
plural neuter nouns and their accompanying adjectives. In this lesson we are
going to build on that knowledge and we are going to focus solely on the
declension patterns using new words, so we can see the patterns play out in real
time and develop more comfort with them.
To begin, we will start with what we learned in the previous lesson:
A quick reminder: the endings for plural are added to the word stem which we get
when we drop the endings for the 1st case singular from adjectives and nouns.

1st case– lepa mora

The ending for the 1st case plural is -a for neuter nouns and their accompanying
adjectives.

2nd case–lepih mora

We add –ih to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case mor, because we have to drop the -e off of
more (singular) before we can add any plural endings. This is important to
remember. When we add -a to mor, we get mora. Remember to pronounce the
2nd case plural long- lEpih mOra, the long Ein lEpih and long Oin mOra to
distinguish it from the 2nd case singular.

3rd case–lepim morima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -ima to the end
of the singular noun stem, in this case mor.

Study Guide 2
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4th case–lepa mora
We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case mor.

5th case–lepa mora

We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case mor.

6th case–lepim morima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -ima to the end
of the singular noun stem, in this case mor.

7th case–lepim morima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case lep, and -ima to the end
of the singular noun stem, in this case mor.

Notice that the 1st, 4th and 5th case are the same– lepa mora, and that the cases
3rd, 6th and 7th are the same– lepim morima.

Our next adjective noun pair is nova iskustva, which means new experiences. The
1st case singular is novo iskustvo (new experience). Remember that the endings for
plural are added to the word stem which we get when we drop the endings for
the 1st case singular from adjectives and nouns: the adjective stem, which in this
case is nov, and the singular noun stem which is iskustv. As a reminder, for neuter
we have to drop the -o endings from both novo and iskustvo, giving us nov and
iskustv, before we can add plural endings. When we add -a to the adjective stem
nov, and -a to the noun stem iskustv, we get nova iskustva (new experiences).Lets’
proceed on to see how nova iskustva declines in all 7 cases.

Study Guide 3
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1st case– nova iskustva
Notice how nova iskustva doesn’t change in the first case and marks the subject of
the sentence. In the first case words never change.

2nd case–novih iskustava

We add –ih to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv, because we have to drop the -o off of
iskustvo (singular) before we can add any plural endings. Pay attanetion to the
inserted vowel -a for the plural neuter nouns in the 2nd case, so called The Fleeting
A. This is important to remember. When we add -a to iskustav, we get iskustava.
Remember to pronounce the 2nd case plural long- nOvih iskUstava, the long O in
nOvih and the long U in iskUstava.

3rd case–novim iskustvima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv.

4th case–nova iskustva

We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv.

5th case–nova iskustva

We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv.

Study Guide 4
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6th case–(sa) novim iskustvima
We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv.

7th case–(o) novim iskustvima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case nov, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case iskustv.

Notice that the 1st, 4th and 5th case are the same– nova iskustva, and that the
cases 3rd, 6th and 7th are the same– novim iskustvima.

Our next example is mala sela, which means small villages. Malo selo means a
small village, first case singular.Before we can add plural endings, we must first
drop the -o ending from both malo and selo, which gives us the adjective stem
mal and the noun stem sel. From here we can add the plural declension endings.

1st case– mala sela

Notice how mala sela doesn’t change in the first case and marks the subject of the
sentence. In the first case words never change.

2nd case–malih sela

We add –ih to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case sel, because we have to drop the -o off of selo
(singular) before we can add any plural endings. This is important to remember.
When we add -a to sel, we get sela.Remember to pronounce the 2nd case plural
long–mAlih sEla, the long A in mAlih and the long E in sEla to distinguish it from
the 2nd case singular.

Study Guide 5
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3rd case–malim selima
We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case sel.

4th case–mala sela

We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case sel.

5th case–mala sela

We add -a to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -a to the end of
the singular noun stem, in this case sel.

6th case–(sa) malim selima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case sel.

7th case–(o) malim selima

We add -im to the end of the adjective stem, in this case mal, and -ima to the
end of the singular noun stem, in this case sel.

Notice that the 1st, 4th and 5th case are the same– mala sela, and that the cases
3rd, 6th and 7th are the same– malim selima.

Study Guide 6
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Example: mala sela – beautiful women
Chart
case Case Function Adjective Noun
1. is the subject and part of the predicate mala sela

2. express that something is from someone or malih sela

from something
3. recipient of something malim selima
4. object mala sela
5. addressing or calling people mala sela

6. express company or usage of tools (sa) malim selima

7. talking about someone or something (o) malim selima

VOCABULARY

Serbian English
lepo pretty or beautiful, neuter singular
lepa pretty or beautiful, neuter plural
more sea, singular neuter noun
mora seas, plural neuter noun
novo new, neuter singular
nova new, neuter plural
iskustvo experience, neuter singular
iskustva experiences, neuter plural
malo small, neuter singular
mala small, neuter plural
selo village, neuter singular
sela village, neuter plural

Study Guide 7
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ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY

Serbian English
jezero lake
pismo letter
slovo letter, character
dvorište yard
polje field
pozorište theater
pero feather
imanje property
znanje knowledge
plavo blue
duboko deep
dugačko long
kratko short
staro old

LESSON EXAMPLES

Serbian English
lepo more beautiful sea
lepa mora beautiful seas
novo iskustvo new experience
nova iskustva new experiences
malo selo small village
mala sela small villages

Study Guide 8
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PRACTICE
EXCERCISE #1

Make the plural and translate to English:

# Singular Plural English

1. veliko dvorište velika dvorišta (example) big yards

2. lepo polje
3. malo slovo
4. kratko pismo
5. veliko znanje
6. duboko jezero
7. staro pozorište
8. novo imanje
9. lepo pero
10. plavo more

EXERCISE #2

Decline the plural neuter nouns and accompanying adjectives:

# Plural Declension
1. stara pozorišta (old theatres)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Study Guide 9
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# Plural Declension
1. duboka jezera (deep lakes)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

# Plural Declension
1. kratka pisma (short letters)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

# Plural Declension
1. velika dvorišta (big yards)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Study Guide 10
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EXERCISE #3

Translate into Serbian:

# English Serbian
1. I see beautiful fields Ja vidim lepa polja (example)
2. You (singular) are talking about big yards
3. We give this to the small properties
4. Deep lakes are blue
5. Hey, blue seas!
6. She is writing long letters
7. They (masculine) see new theaters

ANSWER KEY
EXCERCISE #1

(The answer is underlined and in bold)

Make the plural and translate to English:
# Singular Plural English

1. veliko dvorište velika dvorišta(example) big yards

2. lepo polje lepa polja beautiful fields
3. malo slovo mala slova samall letters (characters)

4. kratko pismo kratka pisma short letters

5. veliko znanje velika znanja big knowledge
6. duboko jezero duboka jezera deep lakes
7. staro pozorište stara pozorišta old theaters
8. novo imanje nova imanja new properties
9. lepo pero lepa pera beautiful feathers
10. plavo more plava mora blue seas

Study Guide 11
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EXERCISE #2

(The answer is underlined and in bold)

Decline the plural neuter nouns and accompanying adjectives:

# Plural Declension
1. stara pozorišta (old theatres)
2. starih pozorišta
3. starim pozorištima
4. stara pozorišta
5. stara pozorišta
6. (sa) starim pozorištima
7. (o) starim pozorištima

# Plural Declension
1. duboka jezera (deep lakes)
2. dubokih jezera
3. dubokim jezerima
4. duboka jezera
5. duboka jezera
6. (sa) dubokim jezerima
7. (o) dubokim jezerima

# Plural Declension
1. kratka pisma (short letters)
2. kratkih pisama
3. kratkim pismima
4. kratka pisma
5. kratka pisma
6. (sa) kratkim pismima
7. (o) kratkim pismima

Study Guide 12
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 # Plural Declension
1. velika dvorišta (big yards)
2. velikih dvorišta
3. velikim dvorištima
4. velika dvorišta
5. velika dvorišta
6. (sa) velikim dvorištima
7. (o) velikim dvorištima

EXERCISE #3

Translate into Serbian:

# English sentence Serbian sentence
1. I see beautiful fields Ja vidim lepa polja (example)
2. You (singular) are talking about big yards Ti pričaš o velikim dvorištima
3. We give this to the small properties Mi dajemo to malim imanjima
4. Deep lakes are blue Duboka jezera su plava
5. Hey, blue seas! Hej, plava mora!
6. She is writing long letters Ona piše dugačka pisma
7. They (masculine) see new theaters Oni vide nova pozorišta

Great job! Ćao, drugari!

Study Guide 13
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