This is one more lesson about Serbian pronouns. As you can see, pronouns in any Slavic languages take a big part in the Eessential grammar. In this lesson we will learn Serbian demonstrative pronouns, their declension, some question words, and how to saw “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 (further untouchable distance): 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/Ovaki(m), ovaka(f), ovako(n), ovaki(m, pl), ovake(f, pl), ovaka(n, pl) – Such
Takav(m), takva(f), takvo(n), takvi(m, pl), takve(f, pl), takvo(n, pl) – such
Onakav(m), onakva(f), onakvo(n), onakvi(m, pl), onakve(f, pl), onakvo(n, pl) – such
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 knjugu – give me this 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 takav 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 bila si u Rusije, šta si radila onde? – When you (female) has been to 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, ol), kakve(f, pl), kakva(n, pl) – what?(by quality), what kind of?
Examples:
Koje stvari želeš da izbaciš – Which things do you wish to throw out? (baciti(imp.)/izbacit(perf.) – to throw out, želeti – to wish, stvar – thing(feminine, exception))
Koja je razlika između ovih reći? – What is the difference between these verbs? (razlika – difference, između – between, reć – word)
Kakav je to covek? – What kind of man is it?
Kakvo lepo nebo! – Such a beautiful sky! (nebo – sky)
Koliki ti je pritisak? – What’s your pressure? (pritisak – pressure)
Koliko košta ova haljina? – How much is this dress? (koštovati – to cost, haljina – dress)
Kakav grozan dan – What a horrible day (grozan – horrible)
Čij je ovaj novačnik? – Whose is this wallet? (novačnik – wallet)
Čiju torbu on je pronašao? – Whose bag has he found? (torba – bag, naći(imp.)/pronaći(perf.) – to find)