Table of Contents
In this lesson, we will learn Serbian pronouns like “something, somebody, everybody, nothing, nowhere, etc.” Grammarians call them indefinite, negative, and universal pronouns, but you don’t need to remember these terms — you just need to know how to build and use these words. The good news: they are all built from the question words that you already know, with the help of a few prefixes.
Remember these question words first:
Ko? – who?
Šta? – what?
Gde? – where?
Kada? – when?
Kako? – how?
Koji? – which?
Kakav? – what kind of?
Čiji? – whose?
The prefix NE- : “some-“
Add the prefix NE- to a question word to say “somebody, something, somewhere”:
| Neko | Somebody, someone |
| Nešto | Something |
| Negde | Somewhere |
| Nekada (nekad) | Sometime, once (in the past) |
| Nekako | Somehow |
| Neki | Some (which one — unknown) |
| Nekakav | Some kind of |
| Nečiji | Somebody’s |
Neko te čeka napolju – Somebody is waiting for you outside
Želim da ti kažem nešto – I want to tell you something
Moje naočare su negde u ovoj sobi – My glasses are somewhere in this room
The prefix NI- : “no-“
Add the prefix NI- to say “nobody, nothing, nowhere”:
| Niko | Nobody, no one |
| Ništa | Nothing |
| Nigde | Nowhere |
| Nikada (nikad) | Never |
| Nikako | In no way |
| Nijedan | Not a single one, none |
| Nikakav | No kind of, none whatsoever |
| Ničiji | Nobody’s |
Notice, the Serbian language uses double (and even triple) negation. While in English one says “Nobody knows”, in Serbian the verb must be negative too:
Niko ne zna – Nobody knows (literally: nobody doesn’t know)
Ništa ne radim – I am not doing anything
Nikada nisam bio u Parizu – I have never been to Paris
Niko nikada ništa ne kaže – Nobody ever says anything (triple negation is fine!)
The prefix SVA-/SVE- : “every-“
| Svako | Everybody, everyone |
| Sve | Everything |
| Svi | Everybody, all (people) |
| Svuda / svugde | Everywhere |
| Uvek | Always |
| Svaki | Every, each |
| Svakakav | All kinds of |
Svako to zna – Everybody knows it
Sve je u redu – Everything is all right
Svi su ovde – Everybody is here
BILO + question word : “any-“
To say “anybody, anything, anywhere” (it doesn’t matter who/what/where), place the word BILO before the question word:
Bilo ko – anybody
Bilo šta – anything
Bilo gde – anywhere
Bilo kada – anytime
Bilo koji – any (which one — it doesn’t matter)
Bilo kakav – any kind of
Možeš da me pozoveš bilo kada – You can call me anytime
Bilo ko može da nauči srpski – Anybody can learn Serbian
Declension
These pronouns are declined by cases in the same way as the question words KO and ŠTA:
| Ko | Neko | Šta | Nešto | |
| Nominative | ko | neko | šta | nešto |
| Genitive | koga | nekoga | čega | nečega |
| Dative | kome | nekome | čemu | nečemu |
| Accusative | koga | nekoga | šta | nešto |
| Instrumental | kim | nekim | čim | nečim |
| Locative | kome | nekome | čemu | nečemu |
NIKO and NIŠTA are declined the same way (nikoga, nikome, ničega, ničemu, and so on), and SVAKO is declined like KO (svakoga, svakome…).
One special rule: when a negative pronoun (NI-) is used with a preposition, the preposition goes between NI and the question word:
Ni sa kim – with nobody (not sa nikim)
Ni o čemu – about nothing
Ni za koga – for nobody
Ne pričam ni sa kim – I don’t talk to anybody
Ne mislim ni o čemu – I am not thinking about anything
Examples
Neko je ostavio poruku za tebe – Somebody left a message for you
Da li znaš nešto o ovome? – Do you know something about this?
Niko me ne razume – Nobody understands me
Nemam ništa u frižideru – I have nothing in the refrigerator
Svako može da pogreši – Everybody can make a mistake
Oni nikada ne putuju nigde – They never travel anywhere
Video sam nekoga u dvorištu – I saw somebody in the yard
Kome si dao ključ? Nekome iz škole – To whom did you give the key? To somebody from school
Ova torba je ničija – This bag is nobody’s
Kupiću ti bilo koju knjigu – I will buy you any book (you choose)
Svuda ima dobrih ljudi – There are good people everywhere
Nešto nije u redu sa ovim kompjuterom – Something is wrong with this computer
Vocabulary
| čekati – to wait
napolju – outside naočare – glasses soba – room razumeti – to understand frižider – refrigerator grešiti/pogrešiti – to make a mistake |
ostaviti – to leave (something)
poruka – message dvorište – yard ključ – key torba – bag u redu – all right, OK kompjuter – computer |
Exercises
Use the appropriate pronoun (neko, nešto, niko, ništa, svako, negde, nigde, nikada, bilo ko, etc.)
- ______________ kuca na vrata – Somebody is knocking on the door (kucati – to knock, vrata – door)
- Da li želiš ______________ da jedeš? – Do you want something to eat?
- ______________ ne zna odgovor – Nobody knows the answer (odgovor – answer)
- Ne vidim ______________ u mraku – I see nothing in the dark (mrak – dark)
- ______________ ima svoje mišljenje – Everybody has their own opinion (mišljenje – opinion)
- Moj telefon je ______________ u stanu – My phone is somewhere in the flat
- ______________ nisam probao sarmu – I have never tried sarma
- Oni ______________ ne idu bez dece – They go nowhere without the children
- Ne slažem se ni sa ______________ – I agree with nobody (slagati se – to agree)
- ______________ može da reši ovaj lak zadatak – Anybody can solve this easy task
- Da li si čuo ______________ o novom filmu? – Have you heard something about the new film?
- ______________ stvari su jeftine, a ______________ su skupe – Some things are cheap, and some are expensive
Answers
1: neko; 2: nešto; 3: niko; 4: ništa; 5: svako; 6: negde; 7: nikada; 8: nigde; 9: kim; 10: bilo ko; 11: nešto; 12: neke, neke