Table of Contents
In this lesson, we will learn Serbian adverbs — the words that describe how, when, where, and how much something happens. Adverbs are not declined by cases and do not change by gender, so this is one of the easiest lessons in the course.
How to form adverbs from adjectives
The rule is very simple: the adverb looks exactly like the adjective in the neuter gender:
Brz – fast (adjective, m), brzo – quickly (adverb)
Loš – bad, loše – badly
Dobar – good, dobro – well
Lak – easy, lako – easily
Spor – slow, sporo – slowly
Tih – quiet, tiho – quietly
On je brz – He is fast (adjective)
On trči brzo – He runs quickly (adverb)
Adverbs of time
| Sada (sad) | Now |
| Danas | Today |
| Juče | Yesterday |
| Sutra | Tomorrow |
| Ujutru | In the morning |
| Uveče | In the evening |
| Uvek | Always |
| Često | Often |
| Ponekad | Sometimes |
| Retko | Rarely |
| Nikada (nikad) | Never |
| Rano | Early |
| Kasno | Late |
| Već | Already |
| Još | Still, yet, more |
| Uskoro | Soon |
Adverbs of place
| Ovde | Here |
| Tamo | There |
| Gore | Up, upstairs |
| Dole | Down, downstairs |
| Levo | Left, to the left |
| Desno | Right, to the right |
| Pravo | Straight ahead |
| Blizu | Near, close |
| Daleko | Far |
| Unutra | Inside |
| Napolju | Outside |
| Kući | Home (direction: going home) |
| Kod kuće | At home (location) |
Notice the difference: Idem kući – I am going home (direction), but Ja sam kod kuće – I am at home (location).
Adverbs of quantity and degree
| Mnogo | A lot, much, many |
| Malo | A little, few |
| Dosta | Enough, quite a lot |
| Previše | Too much |
| Veoma / vrlo | Very |
| Skoro / gotovo | Almost |
| Samo | Only |
| Zajedno | Together |
Notice: after MNOGO, MALO, DOSTA, and PREVIŠE the noun is in the genitive: mnogo vremena – a lot of time, malo novca – little money.
Comparison of adverbs
Adverbs are compared exactly like adjectives in the neuter gender (see the lesson about degrees of comparison):
Brzo – quickly, brže – faster, najbrže – the fastest
Dobro – well, bolje – better, najbolje – the best
Loše – badly, gore – worse, najgore – the worst
Mnogo – much, više – more, najviše – the most
Malo – little, manje – less, najmanje – the least
Examples
Govorite sporije, molim vas – Speak more slowly, please
Danas radim, a sutra putujem – Today I work, and tomorrow I travel
Oni često idu u bioskop – They often go to the cinema
Moja kancelarija je blizu – My office is near
Skreni levo, pa idi pravo – Turn left, then go straight
Već je kasno, idem kući – It is already late, I am going home
Napolju je hladno, a unutra je toplo – It is cold outside, and warm inside
Ona veoma dobro peva – She sings very well
Imamo previše posla ove nedelje – We have too much work this week
Skoro uvek doručkujem kod kuće – I almost always have breakfast at home
Vocabulary
| bioskop – cinema
kancelarija – office skrenuti – to turn hladno – cold toplo – warm |
posao – work, job
nedelja – week / Sunday doručkovati – to have breakfast pevati – to sing putovati – to travel |
Exercises
Use the appropriate adverb
- Kornjača hoda ______________ (SPOR – slow) – A turtle walks slowly (kornjača – turtle, hodati – to walk)
- ______________ sam bio u prodavnici (yesterday) – Yesterday I was in the store
- Oni ______________ gledaju televiziju (rarely) – They rarely watch TV
- Govori ______________, beba spava (TIH – quiet) – Speak quietly, the baby is sleeping (beba – baby, spavati – to sleep)
- Pošta je ______________, možemo da idemo peške (near) – The post office is near, we can go on foot (peške – on foot)
- Imam ______________ pitanja (a lot) – I have a lot of questions (pitanje – question)
- Moj brat trči ______________ od mene (faster) – My brother runs faster than me
- ______________ je toplo, idemo u park (outside) – It is warm outside, let’s go to the park
Answers
1: sporo; 2: juče; 3: retko; 4: tiho; 5: blizu; 6: mnogo; 7: brže; 8: napolju