Serbian 201, Exercise 11 — a kitchen table seen from above. Say what's next to what, and the genitive does the rest.
Pored (next to) and između (between) both demand the genitive — always, without exception. So the noun that follows never stays in its dictionary form:
| Type | Nominative | Genitive singular | Genitive plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | šporet, tost, tiganj | šporeta, tosta, tiganja | šporeta, tostova |
| feminine -a | kafa, kruška, jagoda | kafe, kruške, jagode | kafa, krušaka, jagoda |
| neuter | jaje | jajeta | jaja |
Two things worth pausing on. Feminine nouns in the genitive plural lose their ending entirely — jagoda stays jagoda, kobasica stays kobasica — so it looks like nothing happened, but the case has changed. And jaje grows a syllable in the singular: jajeta, while the plural is simply jaja.
Watch the brackets: some ask for one thing, some for several.
Pogledaj lekciju pre nego što počneš — Serbian Lessons by Marina
1. Pržena jaja su pored . (bacon)
2. Slanina je pored . (eggs)
3. Slanina je pored . (egg)
4. Jagode su pored . (stove)
5. Šporet je pored . (strawberries)
6. Šporet je pored . (strawberry)
7. Tost je pored . (juice)
8. Đus je pored . (toast)
9. Dinja je između lubenice i . (pear)
10. Kruška je pored dinje i . (watermelon)
11. Torta je pored . (coffee)
12. Kafa je pored . (cake)
13. Supa je pored . (tiganj)
14. Tiganj je pored . (soup)
15. Kobasice su pored . (frying pan)
16. Tiganj je pored . (sausages)
17. Tiganj je pored . (sausage)
18. Limun je između kruške i . (banana)
19. Sir je pored . (čokolada)
SR (lat): Obrati pažnju na jedninu i množinu u zagradi. Nije osetljivo na velika/mala slova, i može latinicom ili ćirilicom; dijakritici su opcioni.
СР (ћир): Обрати пажњу на једнину и множину у загради. Није осетљиво на велика/мала слова, и може латиницом или ћирилицом; дијакритици су опциони.
EN: Mind whether the bracket asks for one or several. Not case-sensitive; Latin or Cyrillic both fine, diacritics optional.
Igra, pa upotreba
Ista gramatika, drugo raspoloženje — Ghost Hunt: Genitive with Food.
Eleven exercises, from the past tense to the genitive. Serbian 301 is where the cases really open up.
Back to Exercises →