Word Order and Sentence Building

Serbian generally follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order, which feels very familiar to English speakers.

However, Serbian is a highly flexible language. Because word endings usually show grammatical roles, you can often move major sentence elements around to emphasize different things, although some elements, especially clitics, have placement restrictions.

The most important piece of information you want to highlight is often placed at the very beginning of the sentence.

It is also extremely common to completely drop the subject pronouns (I, you, he, we) because the verb itself already tells the listener exactly who is performing the action.

Here are examples showing normal word order, emphasis, and dropped subjects:

• Ја читам књигу. (Ja čitam knjigu.) - I am reading a book.

• Читам књигу. (Čitam knjigu.) - I am reading a book. (Subject dropped)

• Књигу читам. (Knjigu čitam.) - I am reading a book. (Emphasis on the book)

• Она пије кафу. (Ona pije kafu.) - She is drinking coffee.

• Пије кафу. (Pije kafu.) - She is drinking coffee. (Subject dropped)

• Пас јури мачку. (Pas juri mačku.) - The dog is chasing the cat.

• Мачку јури пас. (Mačku juri pas.) - The dog is chasing the cat. (Emphasis on the cat)

• Ми идемо кући. (Mi idemo kući.) - We are going home.

• Идемо кући. (Idemo kući.) - We are going home. (Subject dropped)

• Они једу пицу. (Oni jedu picu.) - They are eating pizza.

• Једу пицу. (Jedu picu.) - They are eating pizza. (Subject dropped)

Making Positive Statements

Making a positive statement in Serbian is incredibly straightforward once you know your verb.

You simply conjugate the verb to match the subject, and you are ready to speak.

Here are affirmative sentences with various subjects:

• Ја сам овде. (Ja sam ovde.) - I am here.

• Ти си мој пријатељ. (Ti si moj prijatelj.) - You are my friend.

• Она ради данас. (Ona radi danas.) - She is working today.

• Он спава. (On spava.) - He is sleeping.

• Ми волимо Србију. (Mi volimo Srbiju.) - We love Serbia.

• Ви говорите српски. (Vi govorite srpski.) - You (formal/plural) speak Serbian.

• Они трче брзо. (Oni trče brzo.) - They run fast.

• Дете се игра. (Dete se igra.) - The child is playing.

Forming Negatives and Questions

Negating a sentence in Serbian is wonderfully simple: you just place the word не (ne) directly in front of the verb.

There are only a few irregular negative verbs you must memorize, such as "to be" (нисам / nisam), "to have" (немам / nemam), and "to want" (нећу / neću).

To ask a question, you have two main options. The easiest and most common way is to put Да ли (Da li) at the very beginning of your sentence.

Alternatively, you can place the verb first, followed immediately by the particle ли (li).

Here are examples of negatives and questions:

• Ја не читам. (Ja ne čitam.) - I am not reading.

• Она не ради. (Ona ne radi.) - She is not working.

• Ми не знамо. (Mi ne znamo.) - We do not know.

• Он није овде. (On nije ovde.) - He is not here. (Irregular negation of "to be")

• Ја немам ауто. (Ja nemam auto.) - I do not have a car. (Irregular negation of "to have")

• Они неће доћи. (Oni neće doći.) - They will not come.

• Да ли читаш? (Da li čitaš?) - Are you reading?

• Читаш ли? (Čitaš li?) - Are you reading? (Alternative form)

• Да ли она ради? (Da li ona radi?) - Is she working?

• Ради ли она? (Radi li ona?) - Is she working? (Alternative form)

• Да ли имамо времена? (Da li imamo vremena?) - Do we have time?

• Да ли је он ту? (Da li je on tu?) - Is he here?

• Је ли он ту? (Je li on tu?) - Is he here? (Alternative form)

Learner Tip: When starting out, always use Да ли (Da li) to form your questions. It requires zero word order changes and is universally understood.

Nouns: Gender and Number

Every single noun in Serbian has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. You can easily guess the gender by looking at the last letter of the word.

Masculine words almost always end in a consonant. Feminine words typically end in the letter -а (-a). Neuter words usually end in -о (-o) or -е (-e).

To make plurals, masculine words usually add an -и (-i) (and sometimes -ови / -ovi or -еви / -evi for short words). Feminine words change the -а (-a) to an -е (-e). Neuter words change the -о (-o) or -е (-e) to an -а (-a).

Here are varied examples covering different genders and plural rules:

• Прозор (Prozor) - Window (Masculine singular)

• Прозори (Prozori) - Windows (Masculine plural)

• Син (Sin) - Son (Masculine singular)

• Синови (Sinovi) - Sons (Masculine plural with -ovi)

• Жена (Žena) - Woman (Feminine singular)

• Жене (Žene) - Women (Feminine plural)

• Књига (Knjiga) - Book (Feminine singular)

• Књиге (Knjige) - Books (Feminine plural)

• Село (Selo) - Village (Neuter singular)

• Села (Sela) - Villages (Neuter plural)

Articles and Determiners

Here is the best news you will hear today: Serbian does absolutely not have articles! There are no words for "a", "an", or "the".

The context of your conversation will naturally tell the listener whether you are talking about a specific item or a general one.

If you truly need to specify exactly which item you mean, you will use demonstrative words like овај (ovaj - this) or тај (taj - that). If you need to emphasize "only one," you use the number један (jedan - one).

Here are sentences showing how context and determiners replace articles:

• Видим пса. (Vidim psa.) - I see a dog / I see the dog.

• Имам књигу. (Imam knjigu.) - I have a book / I have the book.

• Овај пас је велик. (Ovaj pas je velik.) - This dog is big.

• Та књига је добра. (Ta knjiga je dobra.) - That book is good.

• Ово дете спава. (Ovo dete spava.) - This child is sleeping.

• Купујем ауто. (Kupujem auto.) - I am buying a car / the car.

• То село је лепо. (To selo je lepo.) - That village is beautiful.

• Тражим једног човека. (Tražim jednog čoveka.) - I am looking for one (a specific) man.

Cultural Tip: Because Serbians do not use articles, you will often hear native speakers drop "a" and "the" when they speak English. This is a direct translation of their natural thought process!

Practice Section

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in each blank with the correct word, letter, or form based on what you learned.

1- ________ је књига. (This is a book.)

2- Књиг_ (Books)

True/False

Read each statement carefully and decide if it is True or False.

1- Word order is extremely rigid in Serbian and you cannot drop subject pronouns.

2- Nouns ending in a consonant are generally masculine.

Translation

Translate each English phrase or sentence into Serbian (Latin or Cyrillic).

1- I am reading a book.

2- Are you working today?

3- She does not have a car.