Learning Serbian /Croatian/Bosnian

Originally Posted by impulssi

Just to not go off topic in this topic.

Yeah, you're absolutely right about this ;-) Thanks, anyway!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian...age#Declension

This might help with siffixes depending on the case

i'm serbian myself but yet i do have trouble with grammar but i'm starting to overcome these problems.

Though, i'm not sure, is Serbian/Croatian the only language with cases or does polish, czech etc. have 7 also. I know Russian has 6. and Bulgarian and Macedonian don't have them. Just curious

Originally Posted by Luby91

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian...age#Declension

This might help with siffixes depending on the case : )

i'm serbian myself but yet i do have trouble with grammar but i'm starting to overcome these problems.

Though, i'm not sure, is Serbian/Croatian the only language with cases or does polish, czech etc. have 7 also. I know Russian has 6. and Bulgarian and Macedonian don't have them. Just curious

You are right! Declinations are confusing sometimes
Regarding the Macedonian language the case declension is eliminated and the suffixed definite articles are developed instead.
We pronounce decline for some case by using the subject and the direct object or the object of a preposition
Only there are forms of remained vocative case
We are lucky not having much difficulties with the cases

Originally Posted by Lydia_the angel

We are lucky not having much difficulties with the cases

We don't have difficulties with the cases, foreigner does

And about pronunciation - h is like h in Help... H is the smallest problem

Ok, let's go on!



INTRODUCING - UPOZNAVANJE

- Hello, I'm Miloš! What's your name?
- My name is John. I'm from ...Italy. Where are you from?
- I'm from Serbia. How old are you. I'm twenty.
- I'm twenty five. Nice to meet you.
- Me too. Bye!
- Bye!


- Zdravo, Ja sam Miloš! Kako se ti zoveš?
- Ja se zovem Džon. Ja sam iz Italije. Odakle si ti?
- Ja sam iz Srbije. Koliko ti imaš godina? Ja imam dvadeset.
- Ja imam dvadeset i pet. Drago mi je što smo se upoznali.
- I meni takođe. Ćao!
- Ćao!



Formal

- Dobar dan, ja sam Miloš! Kako se Vi zovete?
- Ja se zovem Džon. Ja sam iz Italije. Odakle ste Vi?
- Ja sam iz Srbije. Koliko Vi imate godina. Ja imam dvadeset.
- Ja imam dvadeset i pet. Drago mi je što smo se upoznali.
- I meni takođe. Doviđenja.
- Doviđenja.

H isn't as in help. It only is when a foreigner from slavic origin is trying to pronounce the h of the english language.

anyway like i said, just listen to the soundfile of hrvatska.

lol i just found out something, i donćt want to scare you, lol
, but Serbian is harder than Chinese and Arabic.
Chinese and Arabic you do have to learn an entire new way of writing but after conquering that the grammar is simple.... 3 cases and only one way of word order... not so complex as Serbian but yet i can't judge with other languages.
poz

Could be, depends on what languages you speak. Some people have no difficulties while learning, some do. Learning the Chinese alphabet seems like a lot of work and even if the language isn't that hard to learn, they made sure that the rest is .. Just out of curiousity I opened an Arabic book for learners .. I can say that it didn't look that easy as you claim ..

Originally Posted by Luby91

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian...age#Declension

Though, i'm not sure, is Serbian/Croatian the only language with cases or does polish, czech etc. have 7 also. I know Russian has 6. and Bulgarian and Macedonian don't have them. Just curious

I can confirm that Polish & Slovak have 6 cases. In the past there used to be Vocativ (as 7th case) in Slovak, but nowadays you can only find it in some old literature. Although in Czech it is stil used the same way as in Serbian.

I also know for sure that it is as hard for the English native speakers to understand them cases as it is hard for us (Slavics) to understand the present perfect for the very first time.

Originally Posted by Nene

I can confirm that Polish & Slovak have 6 cases. In the past there used to be Vocativ (as 7th case) in Slovak, but nowadays you can only find it in some old literature. Although in Czech it is stil used the same way as in Serbian.

I also know for sure that it is as hard for the English native speakers to understand them cases as it is hard for us (Slavics) to understand the present perfect for the very first time.

I find slavic Languages very very interesting they each have their own ways of speaking. Nad yeah i guess you're right. I'c currently studying German and it too also has a complex grammar system even though it has 4 cases. Each language is unique.

But there is something is Serbian, which doesn't make sense to me.
Bejah
Bejaše
Bejasmo
Bejahu etc.

I know what they mean but it doesn'y make sense to me when they're in a sentence.

Originally Posted by Nene

I can confirm that Polish & Slovak have 6 cases. In the past there used to be Vocativ (as 7th case) in Slovak, but nowadays you can only find it in some old literature. Although in Czech it is stil used the same way as in Serbian.

I also know for sure that it is as hard for the English native speakers to understand them cases as it is hard for us (Slavics) to understand the present perfect for the very first time.

Ha well, the vocative case doesn't really add an extra difficulty, plus i find that the cases of serbo-croatian are easier to remember than that of Russian.

Anyway serbo-croatian definitely isnt the hardest language to learn, not even the hardest european language, i think finnish could claim that title, with its 15 cases.

There is even a language with 44 cases, i dunno in which cases those cases get use, but quite frankly i don't even want to know

anyway what i find the hardest to learn in each language is the vocabulary, you have to know quit some words before you are able to do some small talk. Grammar you have to know to get started with but in the end you'll only get fluent enough with that when you talk a lot and for that you need the vocabulary.

Originally Posted by impulssi

anyway what i find the hardest to learn in each language is the vocabulary, you have to know quit some words before you are able to do some small talk. Grammar you have to know to get started with but in the end you'll only get fluent enough with that when you talk a lot and for that you need the vocabulary.

I completely agree. I'd only say that vocabulary is very important, but not necessarily hardest in a language. Anyway, it is true that you have to spend more time in acquiring a good deal of vocabulary, whereas the grammar can take you only the time you need to master the rules and to get used to it. Regarding vocabulary, you never get enough of new words, synonyms, idioms, etc. That's what bothers me most when learning a foreign language. Especially if it is a language that is not even slightly similar to your native language, or to some of the languages you already speak. Spanish, for example, contains many words similar, if not equal, to the same words in English. And still, there are some that only resemble, but they do not mean the same, which can be very confusing. However, when Serbian is in question, it happens quite the opposite to me: since it is rather similar to Macedonian (my native language), I don't have problems with the vocabulary, but on the contrary - with the grammar, since my language does not contain grammar cases.
And what is most interesting, I've asked many Serbians to tell me the suffixes for the cases, and none of them has the slightest idea of how they exactly follow! Logically, since it's their mother tongue, they speak it instinctively, without being obliged to struggle with cases, suffixes, blah blah blah, like I would have to do. ;P

You are talking about me, do you?

Originally Posted by Vlada

You are talking about me, do you?

Haha, no, no, seriously, I really have talked to other Serbians and none of them knows the cases. Honestly, I was talking in general, wasn't referring to you.

Хаха, Влада, многу си ми интересен, стварно умееш да ме насмееш. ;-D

Yes yes, само ја још увек не знам да ли си ти мушко или женско
(намерно ово пишем на српском )

Женско
A штa има везе? ;-)

I'll help you with the suffixes for the cases.

In Serbian language, there are 7 cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, instrumental and locative. If you need help with that, ask or look it up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grammatical_cases
There are also 4 declensions. So, let's start!

THE FIRST DECLENSION

Words of the first declension are of masculine gender ending in consonant, -o and -e, or of neuter gender ending in -o and -e with base that doesn't change.

Masculine gender

(Living things)

sg.

1. učenik-/
2. učenik-a
3. učenik-u
4. učenik-a
5. učenič-e
6. učenik-om
7. učenik-u

pl.

1. učenic-i
2. učenik-a
3. učenic-ima
4. učenik-e
5. učenic-i
6. učenic-ima
7. učenic-ima

sg.

1. Slavk-o
2. Slavk-a
3. Slavk-u
4. Slavk-a
5. Slavk-o
6. Slavk-om
7. Slavk-u

sg.

1. Pavl-e
2. Pavl-a
3. Pavl-u
4. Pavl-a
5. Pavl-e
6. Pavl-om
7. Pavl-u

(Non-living things)

sg.

1. prozor-/
2. prozor-a
3. prozor-u
4. prozor-/
5. prozor-e
6. prozor-om
7. prozor-u

pl.

1. prozor-i
2. prozor-a
3. prozor-ima
4. prozor-e
5. prozor-i
6. prozor-ima
7. prozor-ima

Neuter gender

sg.

1. sel-o
2. sel-a
3. sel-u
4. sel-o
5. sel-o
6. sel-om
7. sel-u

pl.

1. sel-a
2. sel-a
3. sel-ima
4. sel-a
5. sel-a
6. sel-ima
7. sel-ima

sg.

1. polj-e
2. polj-a
3. polj-u
4. polj-e
5. polj-e
6. polj-em
7. polj-u

pl.

1. polj-a
2. polj-a
3. polj-ima
4. polj-a
5. polj-a
6. polj-ima
7. polj-ima

THE SECOND DECLENSION

Words of the second declension are of neuter gender ending in -e. Bases of these words are extended with "n" or "t" in some cases.

sg.

1. ime
2. imen-a
3. imen-u
4. ime
5. ime
6. imen-om
7. imen-u

pl.

1. imen-a
2. imen-a
3. imen-ima
4. imen-a
5. imen-a
6. imen-ima
7. imen-ima

sg.

1. kube
2. kubet-a
3. kubet-u
4. kube
5. kube
6. kubet-om
7. kubet-u

pl.

1. kubet-a
2. kubet-a
3. kubet-ima
4. kubet-a
5. kubet-a
6. kubet-ima
7. kubet-ima


Many nouns have plural forms that are of feminine gender (ending in consonant).

1. (ta) burad
2. (te) burad-i
3. (toj) burad-i
4. (tu) burad
5. /
6. (tom) burad-i
7. (toj) burad-i

Nouns like dete, ždrebe, tele, jagnje, pile (young living creatures) have only this kind of plural forms.

THE THIRD DECLENSION

Words of the third declension are ending in -a. They are of feminine and masculine gender.

Feminine gender

sg.

1. žena
2. žen-e
3. žen-i
4. žen-u
5. žen-o
6. žen-om
7. žen-i

pl.

1. žen-e
2. žen-a
3. žen-ama
4. žen-e
5. žen-e
6. žen-ama
7. žen-ama

Masculine gender

sg.

1. sudija
2. sudij-e
3. sudij-i
4. sudij-u
5. sudij-o/sudij-a
6. sudij-om
7. sudij-i

pl.

1. sudij-e
2. sudij-a
3. sudij-ama
4. sudij-e
5. sudij-e
6. sudij-ama
7. sudij-ama


As you see, the suffixes are same for both feminine and masculine gender.

Polysyllabic words of feminine gender ending in -ica have suffix -e instead of -o in vocative form.

THE FOURTH DECLENSION

Words of the fourth declension are of feminine gender ending in consonant.

sg.

1. stvar-/
2. stvar-i
3. stvar-i
4. stvar-/
5. stvar-i
6. stvar-i/stvar-ju
7. stvar-i

pl.

1. stvar-i
2. stvar-i
3. stvar-ima
4. stvar-i
5. stvar-i
6. stvar-ima
7. stvar-ima

I think you will love the fourth declension best
So, that's it. But it is not over. There are many exceptions, many alternations... If I find anything interesting, I'll write it. If you have any dilemmas, ask!