In order to use the passive voice in the Serbian language, we need to know Reflexive verbs. Passive voice is a speech that doesn’t have a subject. This is an analog to the English construction “one …”, i.e. we can say “one says that …” “one can do it” “one must do it” and “one plays computer games”. Passive voice in the Serbian language is formed with the reflexive particle “se”. Here is the formula:

Verb conjugated as with the pronouns “On/Ona” + se

Govori se – one says

Može (se) – one can

Mora se – one must

Radi se – one does

And so on, it is this easy.

There is/There are in the Serbian language

Memorize these Serbian words-analogs of English “there is/there are”. These are forms of the verb IMATI – to have.

In present tense:

Ima – there is/are

Nema – there isn’t/aren’t

In past tense:

Imalo je – there was/were

Nije imalo – there wasn’t/weren’t

In future tense:

Biće – there will be

Neće biti – there will not be

Also, there is a construction formed from the verb POSTOJATI – to exist.

In present tense:

Postoji – there is/are

Ne postoji – there isn’t/aren’t

In past tense:

Postojalo je – there was/were

Nije postojalo – there wasn’t/weren’t

In future tense:

Postojaće – there will be

Neće postojati – there won’t be

Conditional mood:

Bilo bi – there would be

Ne bi bilo – there would not be

Postojalo bi – there would be

Ne bi postojalo – there would not be

This construction is used when we say “there is/are” meaning that something exists.

Examples

U šumi ima mnogo peručaka – There are a lot of mushrooms in the forest (šuma – forest, peručak – mushroom)

Kaži se da ima malo turista u našem gradu – One says that there are few tourists in our city

Znaš da postoji lako rešenje ovog problema? – Do you know that there is an easy solution of this problem? (rešenje – solution)

Da li ima Srpska hrana u ovom resturanu? – Is there Serbian food in this restaurant?

Može vam se reći – One can tell you

Šta se dešava tamo? – What is happening there?

Nije postojalo ove zgrade ovde pre godinu dana – There was not this building here one year ago (zgrada – building, godina/godina dana – year)

Mislim da biće mnogo hrane na banketu – I think that there will be a lot of food at the banquet (hrana – food, banket – banquet)

Bilo bi mnogo razloga – There would be many reasons (razlog – reason)

Exercises

Use passive voice or “there is/are”

  1. Šta ________________ u tom govoru? (GOVORITI – to speak) – What was said in that speech?
  2. _____da__________koristi ovaj fotoaparat svaki dan (MOĆI – can) – One can use the this photo camera every daz
  3. ______________ da smo izgubili mnogo vremena ovde, ali stvarno nismo (ČINITI SE – to seem) – It seemed that we have lost much time here, but actually we didn’t
  4. Kako ______________ na ruskom? (KAZATI – to say) – How is it said in Russian?
  5. Kako to _______________ u Africi? (RADITI – to do) – How one does it in Africa?
  6. ______________ mnogo turista u centru našeg grada – There are many tourists in the center of our city
  7. Da li _______________ neka univerzalna pilula? – Is there any universal pill?
  8. ____________ mnogo mogućnosti za mlade ljude – There are a lot of opportunities for young people
  9. Da li ovde _______________ neka prodavnica blizu? – Is there any store near?
  10. Sada ______________ mnogo onlajn kursevi – There are many online courses now
  11. ________________ potrošiti mnogo pare tamo – One can spend a lot of money there
  12. _______________ metro u Budimpešti – There is a metro in Budapest
  13. _____________ nova drva u parku – There will be new trees in the park

Answers

1: se govori; 2: može, se; 3: činilo se; 4: se kaže; 5: se radi; 6: ima; 7: postoji; 8: postoji; 9: ima; 10: ima; 11: može; 12: ima; 13: biću