Those "bejah, bejaše, bejaše...." are the imperfect tense forms of verb BITI (to be).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperfect
and here are the suffixes for the imperfect tense
http://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%...BA%D0%B0%D1%82
On the right side of that page you can find suffixes for other tenses, i think it's very useful. The bad thing is that the explanations are in Serbian... but i could try to translate it if you want.


hehe, i didn't even see your reply, Dangerous&Moving.
Ne bih da mislis da nesto zameram tvom odgovoru..

Originally Posted by Dangerous & Moving

it's form of verb to be in imperfect

Originally Posted by baskarukebaskanoge

Those "bejah, bejaše, bejaše...." are the imperfect tense forms of verb BITI (to be).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperfect
and here are the suffixes for the imperfect tense
http://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%...BA%D0%B0%D1%82
On the right side of that page you can find suffixes for other tenses, i think it's very useful. The bad thing is that the explanations are in Serbian... but i could try to translate it if you want.

Thank you both! I've checked it...I understand what it stands for, but still need to practise to use it.

Any more confusing surprises regarding the Serbian grammar???

Imperfect tense is not used very often. Sometimes it even sounds a little archaic. We usually use present, perfect, future I and II, and sometimes aorist. You really shouldn't bother yourelf with imperfect tense. Even some Serbs don't know how to use it corectly. There are more important things to be focused on.

Surprises are yet to come!

baskarukebaskanoge sve u redu

in croatian, imperfect is also not used very often, but somehow I like it very much, to me it sounds gracious but well, that's just me

Originally Posted by Vlada

ok I will continue if there's interest...

molimmmmmmmmmmmm .. please continue

Originally Posted by Vlada

COUNTRIES - DRŽAVE (ž is Ж on cyrillic, and it woudn't be problem for those who know some other slovenian language... I don't know how to explain, it's sometnihg between z and š...)

For those who speak French, ž = j in "je" (I)

Originally Posted by masarra

I have a question for serbian past tense. Why do you use "I am" when speaking in past tense?

For instance:
Sanjala sam - I dreamt
Mogla sam - I could

In many languages you build some tenses using auxiliaries.
In French, to create the "passé composé" [a specific past tense], you use "to be ["être"] or "to have" ["avoir"] depending on the verb! In Italian as well ("essere" and "avere"). For once, Serbian is easier as it only uses "to be" :P
In Spanish, you'll use "to have" ("haber").

Even if it is quite different, you have something similar in English : I have dreamt. You use the auxiliary "to have" to built a new tense up!

NB: I think you'll use sanjao/sanjala sam both to translate I have dreamt and I dreamt. Can someone tell me whether I'm right?

for fellow students.
This site also helps.

http://www.serbianschool.com/

I go there to learn, there is also BYKI.com - before you know it - I have all balkan languages including cyrillic, Pimsleurs Croatian is another program I have, benson dictionary, lingvosoft Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian and talk now croatian. If anyone would like any of these softwares please send me a pm. I will put them somewhere accessable. For the native speakers that want to learn more English, I can help with that and any other language. I have Rosetta Stone language softwares also (27 languages in all) send me a pm or msn whichever I will be happy to share.

Originally Posted by Vlada

[...]

I - Ja
You - Ti
He - On
She - Ona
It - Ono
[...]
0 - nula

Bardzo podobny do polskiego (очень похожий польскому языку):

I - Ja - Ja
You - Ti - Ty
He - On - On
She - Ona - Ona
It - Ono - Ono

We - Mi - My
You - Vi - Wy
They - Oni - Oni

Numbers - brojevi - Liczebniki

1 - jedan - jeden
2 - dva - dwa
3 - tri - trzy ('rz' near to 'tshy')
4 - četiri (Č like CHat, CHoose) - cztery ('cz' like Charm)
5 - pet - pięć
6 - šest (Š = sh, like SHe) - sześć ('sz' like She; 'ś' like s', e.g. in russian '-сь'; 'ć' like c', e.g. in russian '-ць')
7 - sedam - siedem
8 - osam - osiem
9 - devet - dziewięć ('ę' inexplicable in writing, one has to hear this sound, near to -oun- in word 'sound')
10 - deset - dziesięć

привет !
всего хорошего !

Here is an interesting fact:

The one and only Serbian word which is used worldwide is VAMPIR
(you all understand it)

Originally Posted by baskarukebaskanoge

Here is an interesting fact:

The one and only Serbian word which is used worldwide is VAMPIR
(you all understand it)

hahaha .. yep I understand that one .. how funny ..

I am - Ja sam
You are - Ti si
He is - On je
She is - Ona je
It is - Ono je

We are - Mi smo
You are - Vi ste
They are - Oni su

but

Past tense (PROŠLO VREME)

I am + Infinitive without TI, ĆI + O,LA,LO,LI,LE,LA (sounds funny )


O, LA, LO (singular)

Sing - Peva-ti

For men

Ja sam peva-o
Ti si peva-o
On je peva-o

For women

Ja sam peva-la
Ti si peva-la
Ona je peva-la

And for It just
Ono je peva-lo (IT is only for some baby animals and things...)

LI, LE, LA (plural)

For men

Mi smo peva-li
Vi ste peva-li
Oni su peva-li

For women

Mi smo peva-le
Vi ste peva-le
One su peva-le

For It

Ona su pevala

Originally Posted by Zlatana

NB: I think you'll use sanjao/sanjala sam both to translate I have dreamt and I dreamt. Can someone tell me whether I'm right?

You're right

I am Serbian but I don't understand all of the language (I'm from USA and my relatives don't like to teach me the language) I know some, but I was wondering about some things and then I found this forum! lol God Bless...but when i found this I totally forgot some of the things I want to know lol but what does "Sta Mi Radis" mean?

Originally Posted by lifted

I am Serbian but I don't understand all of the language (I'm from USA and my relatives don't like to teach me the language) I know some, but I was wondering about some things and then I found this forum! lol God Bless...but when i found this I totally forgot some of the things I want to know lol but what does "Sta Mi Radis" mean?

Što radiš - I believe is how are you.
and with the little knowledge I have I believe sta mi radis is similar - how are you .. maybe polite tense. the native speakers please correct me if I am wrong .. as it will help me learn better ..

"Šta radiš?" means "What are you doing?"... it just goes with "How are you?"="Kako si?" when we meet someone or start a phone call. So it's like "What's up?"

"mi" is the short form of "meni" which means "to me".

So, literally that would mean "What are you doing to me". Actually, we insert that "mi" when speaking with someone close to us, someone who we love etc.

So that remains "What are you doing", with an expression of closeness.

When we want to ask someone about someone else, sometimes we use "ti" (short form of "tebi"="to you"). For example:

What is Petar doing?=Šta (ti) radi Petar?
We use "ti" only if the person who are we talking with is close to Petar.

Also, when we want to ask about someone's father, mother, brother... we usually insert "ti" with the meaning "your":

What is your father doing?=Šta radi tvoj otac?=Šta ti radi otac?

Version with "tvoj" sounds a little bit more formal.

Other personal pronouns (their dative forms) can be used in this way too.

Can someone look at my homework and let me know if I have it correct. if not please correct me.
Hvala ti puno.

dobar - day
Adam - Adam
mama - mum/mom/mommy
da - yes
tamo - where/there
san - sleep/rest
tata - dad/daddy
danas - today/nowadays
dom - house/dome/chamber/center
ton - ton/note/tune
to - it/that/this
sto - 100 (is there a difference between sto and što?)
tko - which/who
lako - easy
tako - so
pola - half
moda - latest/style/fashion
doktor - doctor
rano - early
malo - a little
da li šte - do you
ne tako dobro - not so well
vrlo dobro - very well
ta - this

Originally Posted by lifted

I am Serbian but I don't understand all of the language (I'm from USA and my relatives don't like to teach me the language) I know some, but I was wondering about some things and then I found this forum! lol God Bless...but when i found this I totally forgot some of the things I want to know lol but what does "Sta Mi Radis" mean?

where about in the usa are you? I am in Texas - maybe we can help each other learn.

Originally Posted by Nur_Demir

Can someone look at my homework and let me know if I have it correct. if not please correct me.
Hvala ti puno.

dobar - day
tamo - where/there
san - sleep/rest
dom - house/dome/chamber/center
ton - ton/note/tune
to - it/that/this
sto - 100 (is there a difference between sto and što?)
moda - latest/style/fashion
da li šte - do you
ta - this

dobar=good
tamo=there
san can also be a dream
i would say that dom means home
moda is fashion; style is stil
da li ste (not šte)- are you, did you...
"do you" would be just "da li" + correct form of the verb
the first difference between sto and što are in pronounciation (š=sh, like in sheep). Sto is, like you said, a number. Što means what.

to=it
ta=this, but only for feminine gender.