Serbian 501 — eleven collocations, and the one grammar choice hiding inside all of them.
Marketing is a loanword, masculine, and it declines like any Serbian masculine noun: marketing, marketinga, marketingu, marketingom. That part is easy. The interesting part is the adjective standing in front of it.
Serbian adjectives come in two forms, and the difference is invisible in English:
| Neodređeni vid | Određeni vid | Razlika |
|---|---|---|
| direktan marketing | direktni marketing | a kind of marketing · the known kind |
| agresivan marketing | agresivni marketing | same pair, same logic |
| dobar · slab · efikasan | dobri · slabi · efikasni | ends in a consonant · ends in -i |
The short form describes (what sort of marketing?), the long form identifies (which marketing?). In practice, when a phrase hardens into a fixed term — direktni marketing, globalni marketing — the long form wins, because it names a category rather than describing one instance. Both are accepted below.
Two are worth learning as whole phrases. Baviti se marketingom is the natural way to say you work in marketing — baviti se plus instrumental — while raditi marketing is the everyday, slightly office-slang version. And marketing niše keeps niša in the genitive; you will also hear nišni marketing, which is newer and shorter.
English on the left, the Serbian collocation in the box.
1. poor marketing
2. direct marketing
3. international marketing
4. good marketing
5. global marketing
6. to improve marketing
7. to do marketing
8. effective marketing
9. through better marketing
10. aggressive marketing
11. niche marketing
SR (lat): Prihvataju se i određeni i neodređeni vid prideva. Latinicom ili ćirilicom; dijakritici su opcioni.
СР (ћир): Прихватају се и одређени и неодређени вид придева. Латиницом или ћирилицом; дијакритици су опциони.
EN: Both the long and the short adjective form are accepted. Latin or Cyrillic, diacritics optional.