Serbian 901 — one root, three verbs, and a letter that changes everything.
Thirteen words from a text about hipsters, and three of them share a root that trips up even advanced learners.
| Word | Meaning | Used with |
|---|---|---|
| gajiti | to raise, to cultivate | children, plants, and feelings: gajiti nadu |
| uzgajati | to breed, to farm | animals and crops, on purpose and at scale |
| gojiti se | to put on weight | people and animals — the same root, turned on the self |
The trap is in the participles. Uzgojen is bred, farmed — uzgojen losos, farmed salmon. Ugojen, with one letter fewer, means fattened up. Say the wrong one about somebody’s dog and the sentence changes character completely.
Pustiti bradu is worth memorising whole. Serbian does not grow a beard, it lets one — pustio je bradu. The same verb does the same job elsewhere: pustiti kosu, to let your hair grow.
And rublje is another collective, like žbunje in the previous exercise: singular in form, a whole basketful in meaning. Prljavo rublje is dirty laundry, in the literal sense and in the metaphorical one.
English on the left, the Serbian word in the box.
1. to bring up, to grow (children, plants)
2. an achievement
3. a degree
4. to grow a beard
5. to put on weight
6. a manual, a handbook
7. to breed, to raise (animals, crops)
8. neglected, unkempt
9. an offender
10. joy
11. plaid, tartan
12. bred, raised
13. laundry
SR (lat): Upisuje se cela reč ili fraza. Latinicom ili ćirilicom; dijakritici su opcioni.
СР (ћир): Уписује се цела реч или фраза. Латиницом или ћирилицом; дијакритици су опциони.
EN: Type the whole word or phrase. Latin or Cyrillic, diacritics optional.
Stranded whales, a wasted Sunday, and the difference between falling apart and coming to an end.
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