Serbian 701 — what counts as rude where, and the four ways Serbian says you shouldn’t.
English has one word for all of this — should — and Serbian has a small family, each with its own weight.
| Oblik | Snaga | Primer |
|---|---|---|
| ne smete | prohibition — you are not allowed | U Nemačkoj ne smete kasniti. |
| ne treba | advice — one doesn’t do that | U nekim azijskim zemljama ne treba se smejati otvorenih usta. |
| ne bi trebalo | softer still — you’d be better off not | Ne bi trebalo pokazivati palac gore. |
| moraju | obligation with a subject | Muškarci moraju da nose majice. |
The second half of each sentence hides the real prize: smatrati se takes the instrumental. That is why it is smatra se nepristojnim and smatra se uvredom, not the nominative forms you would expect. Whenever Serbian says something is considered X, X goes into the instrumental — the same case you use for travelling autobusom.
And notice which forms are impersonal. Treba and trebalo bi have no subject at all in careful Serbian: not „ja trebam“, but treba da idem. It is one of the last things to settle, and it is a reliable marker of somebody who has learned the language properly.
Izaberi pravi oblik
Twelve customs, twelve decisions between treba, trebalo bi, ne smete and moraju.
Ne učitava se? Otvori vežbu u novom prozoru →
SR (lat): Reši vežbu ispod, pa pritisni Submit da vidiš rezultat.
СР (ћир): Реши вежбу испод, па притисни Submit да видиш резултат.
EN: Complete the exercise below, then press Submit to check your answers.