Serbian 401 — forbidden and optional are not the same thing, and Serbian says so out loud.
English hides two opposite meanings inside one verb. You mustn't smoke is a prohibition; you don't have to smoke is a free choice. Serbian uses two different verbs, and confusing them changes the rule completely.
| Serbian | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| moraju | they must | obligation — no choice |
| ne smeju | they mustn't | prohibition — not allowed |
| ne moraju | they don't have to | optional — they may if they want |
So deca ne smeju da koriste mobilni na času means phones are banned. Deca ne moraju da uče španski means Spanish is offered, but nobody's forcing them. Swap the two and you've either banned Spanish or legalised phones.
Smeti conjugates smem, smeš, sme, smemo, smete, smeju — and in practice you'll almost always meet it negated. On its own, smem means "I'm allowed to", which is a perfectly good thing to say when asking permission: Smem li da uđem?
One small thing about the subject here. Deca is that collective noun again — it declines like a feminine singular (deci, decu) — but the verb after it goes into the plural: deca moraju, deca ne smeju. The noun behaves like one word; the children behave like many.
Zabranjeno, obavezno ili slobodan izbor? Read each rule and decide.
1. Deca da imaju dva mobilna.
2. Deca u školi da jedu sladoled.
3. U današnje vreme deca da idu u školu.
4. U današnje vreme deca da nose kecelju.
5. Deca da koriste mobilni na času.
6. Deca da stave mobilne u kutiju na početku časa.
7. U današnje vreme deca da uče engleski.
8. Danas deca da slušaju muziku na času.
9. Deca da uče španski u školi.
10. Deca da kriju mobilni.
1. I must →
2. I mustn't →
3. I don't have to →
4. they must →
5. they mustn't →
6. they don't have to →
SR (lat): Upiši i NE gde treba — odgovor je cela glagolska grupa. Može latinicom ili ćirilicom.
СР (ћир): Упиши и НЕ где треба — одговор је цела глаголска група. Може латиницом или ћирилицом.
EN: Include NE where it belongs — the answer is the whole verb group. Latin or Cyrillic.
Igra, pa upotreba
Ista gramatika, drugo raspoloženje — Tense Run: MORATI.
Now take morati through all three tenses — including the one place where it stays an infinitive.
MORATI Kroz Vremena →