Serbian Adjectives
Learning Serbian Adjectives Made Easy
To describe things in Serbian, you need adjectives. Serbian adjectives can be a bit tricky because they depend on the gender of the nouns they describe. However, once you understand the gender rules, using adjectives becomes much easier.
What Is Gender in Serbian?
In Serbian, every noun has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. This doesn’t mean the noun is male or female. Instead, it’s a way to categorize nouns. Knowing the gender of a noun is important because it affects how you use other words with it, like adjectives and pronouns.
Learn More About Gender in Serbian
Quick Gender Rules
Here are simple rules to help you determine the gender of Serbian nouns:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Masculine: Ends with a consonant | Masculine: Add -i |
| Feminine: Ends with -a | Feminine: Add -e |
| Neuter: Ends with -e or -o | Neuter: Add -a |
How Adjectives Change with Gender
Serbian adjectives change their form based on the gender and number of the noun they describe. Here’s a simple table to show you how:
| English | Singular Masculine | Singular Feminine | Singular Neuter | Plural Masculine | Plural Feminine | Plural Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hungry | gladan | gladna | gladno | gladni | gladne | gladna |
| thirsty | žedan | žedna | žedno | žedni | žedne | žedna |
| happy | srećan | srećna | srećno | srećni | srećne | srećna |
| sad | tužan | tužna | tužno | tužni | tužne | tužna |
| good | dobar | dobra | dobro | dobri | dobre | dobra |
| bad | loš | loša | loše | loši | loše | loša |
| new | nov | nova | novo | novi | nove | nova |
| old | star | stara | staro | stari | stare | stara |
Notice how the adjective forms change based on the noun’s gender and number.
Examples
Let’s see how these adjectives work with different nouns:
- Masculine Noun: “telefon” (phone)
- The phone is new. – Telefon je nov.
- The phones are new. – Telefoni su novi.
- Feminine Noun: “kuća” (house)
- The house is new. – Kuća je nova.
- The houses are new. – Kuće su nove.
- Neuter Noun: “ogledalo” (mirror)
- The mirror is new. – Ogledalo je novo.
- The mirrors are new. – Ogledala su nova.
Final Thoughts
Understanding gender in Serbian is crucial before moving on to adjectives. Adjectives change to match the gender and number of the nouns they describe. By mastering the gender rules, using adjectives will become much easier.
Tip: If you’re not familiar with the gender rules yet, take some time to learn them first. It will make learning the rest of Serbian grammar much smoother.
