Serbian pronouns and their declension

This is one more lesson about Serbian pronouns. As you can see, pronouns in any Slavic languages take a big part in the essential grammar. In this lesson we will learn Serbian demonstrative pronouns, their declension, some question words, and how to say “here” and “there”. In previous lessons we considered Serbian cases of pronouns and pronouns like “something, everybody, nothing, somewhere etc.”

Demonstrative Serbian pronouns

Let’s learn how to use Serbian pronouns “this, that, these, those”.

This (close distance): Ovaj(m), ova(f), ovo(n), ovi(m, pl), ove(f, pl), ova(n, pl)

That (medium distance, near the listener): Taj(m), ta(f), to(n), ti(m, pl), te(f, pl), ta(n, pl)

That (far distance): Onaj (m), ona(f), ono(n), oni(m, pl), one(f, pl), ona(n, pl)

Also:

Ovakav(m), ovakva(f), ovakvo(n), ovakvi(m, pl), ovakve(f, pl), ovakva(n, pl) – such (like this)

Takav(m), takva(f), takvo(n), takvi(m, pl), takve(f, pl), takva(n, pl) – such

Onakav(m), onakva(f), onakvo(n), onakvi(m, pl), onakve(f, pl), onakva(n, pl) – such (like that)

Declension of Serbian demonstrative pronouns

Nominative	ovaj(m)	ova(f)	ovo(n)	ovi(m, pl)	ove(f, pl)	ova(n, pl)
Genitive	ovog	ove	ovog	ovih	ovih	ovih
Dative	ovom	ovoj	ovom	ovim	ovim	ovim
Accusative	ovaj/ovog	ovu	ovo	ove	ove	ova
Instrumental	ovim	ovom	ovim	ovim	ovim	ovim
Locative	ovom	ovoj	ovom	ovim	ovim	ovim

 

Nominative	taj(m)	ta(f)	to(n)	ti(m, pl)	te(f, pl)	ta(n, pl)
Genitive	tog	te	tog	tih	tih	tih
Dative	tom	toj	tom	tim	tim	tim
Accusative	taj/tog	tu	to	te	te	ta
Instrumental	tim	tom	tim	tim	tim	tim
Locative	tom	toj	tom	tim	tim	tim

 

Nominative	onaj(m)	ona(f)	ono(n)	oni(m, pl)	one(f, pl)	ona(n, pl)
Genitive	onog	one	onog	onih	onih	onih
Dative	onom	onoj	onom	onim	onim	onim
Accusative	onaj/onog	onu	ono	one	one	ona
Instrumental	onim	onom	onim	onim	onim	onim
Locative	onom	onoj	onom	onim	onim	onim

As you can see, the case endings are the same for all demonstrative pronouns. The same endings will be for pronouns Ovakav, Takav, Onakav – such.

Examples

Šta je to tamo? – What is it there?

Daj mi tu knjigu – Give me that book (davati(imp.)/dati(perf.) – to give, knjiga – book)

Šta mislite o ovom novom stanu? – What do you think about this new flat? (misliti – to think, novi – new, stan – flat/apartment)

Gde si videla one stvari? – Where did you see those things? (videti – to see, stvar – thing)

Novi Sad je tako lep grad – Novi Sad is such a beautiful city (lep – beautiful, grad – city)

Here and there

These are actually not pronouns, but place adverbs. They are just similar to demonstrative Serbian pronouns, and they are not declined by cases.

Ovde – here, in close touchable distance

Tu – here, also touchable distance but a bit farther

Tamo – there

Onde – there, far away

Examples

Šta vidiš tamo? – What do you see there?

Ja sam tu, u centru – I am here, in the center (centar – center)

Kada si bila u Rusiji, šta si radila tamo? – When you (female) were in Russia, what did you do there?

Some important Serbian pronouns and question words

Čiji(m),  čija(f), čije(n), čiji(m, pl), čije(f, pl), čija(n, pl) – whose?

Koji(m), koja(f), koje(n), koji(m, pl), koje(f, pl), koja(n, pl) – which?

Koliki(m), kolika(f), koliko(n), koliki(m, pl), kolike(f, pl), kolika(n, pl) – what? (by quantity), how big?

Kakav(m), kakva(f), kakvo(n), kakvi(m, pl), kakve(f, pl), kakva(n, pl) – what?(by quality), what kind of?

Examples:

Koje stvari želiš da izbaciš? – Which things do you wish to throw out? (izbacivati(imp.)/izbaciti(perf.) – to throw out, želeti – to wish, stvar – thing(feminine, exception))

Koja je razlika između ovih reči? – What is the difference between these words? (razlika – difference, između – between, reč – word)

Kakav je to čovek? – What kind of man is it?

Kakvo lepo nebo! – Such a beautiful sky! (nebo – sky)

Koliki ti je pritisak? – What’s your blood pressure? (pritisak – pressure)

Koliko košta ova haljina? – How much is this dress? (koštati – to cost, haljina – dress)

Kakav grozan dan – What a horrible day (grozan – horrible)

Čiji je ovaj novčanik? – Whose is this wallet? (novčanik – wallet)

Čiju je torbu on pronašao? – Whose bag has he found? (torba – bag, naći(imp.)/pronaći(perf.) – to find)