Serbian cases of nouns is a subject that confuses most students very much. But this subject is not as difficult as you might think. However one must spend some time memorizing case endings. Decline 50-100 Serbian nouns by cases and read some Serbian texts to look at how the cases are used.
Description of each Serbian case you will find in the lesson Introduction to Serbian cases, open this page in next tab.
Masculine: Grad – city, Gradovi –cities
| Nominative | grad | gradovi |
| Genitive | grada | gradova |
| Dative | gradu | gradovima |
| Accusative | grad | gradove |
| Instrumental | gradom | gradovima |
| Locative | gradu | gradovima |
| Vocative | grade | gradovi |
Feminine: Zgrada – building, Zgrade – buildings
| Nominative | zgrada | zgrade |
| Genitive | zgrade | zgrada |
| Dative | zgradi | zgradama |
| Accusative | zgradu | zgrade |
| Instrumental | zgradom | zgradama |
| Locative | zgradi | zgradama |
| Vocative | zgrade | zgrade |
Neuter: Polje – field, Polja – fields
| Nominative | polje | polja |
| Genitive | polja | polja |
| Dative | polju | poljima |
| Accusative | polje | polja |
| Instrumental | poljem | poljima |
| Locative | polju | poljima |
| Vocative | polje | polja |
Examples
Kada ideš u školu? – When do you go to school? Školu – accusative, after the preposition “U – to”*
*-notice, that the preposition U can mean either “to” or “in”.
Gde je moj automobil? – Where is my car? Automobil – nominative
Jesi li ti iz Moskve? – Are you from Moscow? Moskve – genitive, after the preposition “IZ – from”.
Šta plešete u plesnoj školi? – What do you dance in dancing school? (plesna škola – dancing school, plesati – to dance), Plesnoj školi – locative, after the preposition “U – in”.
Na tvojim rukama – on your hands. Rukama – locative, after the preposition “NA – on”.
Ja bojim zid – I paint the wall. Zid – accusative, direct object of “bojiti – to paint”.
Moji prijatelji idu u teretanu svaki dan – My friends go to the gym every day. Teretanu – accusative, after the preposition “U – to”.
Ovaj voz ne prolazi kroz Budimpeštu – this train doesn’t go through Budapest. Budimpeštu – accusative case, after the preposition “KROZ – through”.
Deca šetaju sa roditeljima – Children walk with parents. Roditeljima – instrumental, after the preposition “SA – with”.
Drvo raste pored puta – A tree grows next to the road. Puta – genitive case, after the preposition “PORED – next to”.
Vocabulary
| Škola – school
Ruka – hand Farbati(imp.)/Ofarbati(perf.) – to paint Roditelji – parents Budimpešta – Budapest |
Zid – wall
Teretana – gym Voz – train Put – road Deca – children |
Exercises
Decline nouns in appropriate cases
- Idem ka _____________ (ZGRADA – building) – I am going towards the building
- Kako se zove ta slika na __________? (ZID – wall) – What is that picture on the wall called?
- Vraćam se kući iz _______________ (TERETANA – gym) – I am going back home from the gym
- Moj brat je zadovoljan ovim _________________ (INSTRUMENT – instrument) – My brother is satisfied with this instrument
- Mi radimo sa mnogim _________________ (KLIJENT – client) – We work with many clients
- Zašto slušaš ovu _________________ (MUZIKA – music) – Why do you listen to this music?
- Danas je on napisao deset _________________ (STRANICA – page) – Today he has written ten pages
- Koliko bicikala imaš u tvojoj _______________ (GARAŽA – garage) – How many bicycles do you have in your garage?
- Mi popravljamo krov naše __________ (KUĆA – home/house) – We repair the roof of our house
- Koliko ______________ nam treba za _______________ (SALATA – salad, PROSLAVA – celebration) – How much salad do we need for the celebration?
- Šta ti radiš sa ovim _______________ (NOVAC – money) – What do you do with this money?
- O kojem ______________ si mi pričao? (PUT – road) – About which road did you tell me?
Answers
1: zgrade; 2: zidu; 3: teretane; 4: instrumentom; 5: klijentima; 6: muziku; 7: stranica; 8: garaži; 9: kuće; 10: salate; proslavu 11: novcem; 12: putu.