The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence. In this case, the words remain in their original form without any changes, unlike other cases where the endings may vary.

Note: Learning about Serbian genders is very important when studying cases, as gender affects how words change. If you’re not familiar with Serbian gender rules, you can read the post here.

Gender in Serbian Nouns

Understanding the gender of nouns is essential as it affects pronouns, adjectives, and case endings.

Gender Rules:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular Endings	consonant	-a	-o / -e
Plural Endings	-i	-e	-a

Nouns in the Nominative Case

In the nominative case, nouns do not change their form. They stay the same as the base word.

Example:

• English: My friend called his friend.
• Serbian: Moj prijatelj je zvao njegovog druga.

In this sentence:

• Subject (Nominative): Moj prijatelj (My friend)

The possessive pronoun moj (my) agrees with the noun prijatelj (friend) in gender. Since prijatelj is masculine, we use the masculine form moj.

Personal Pronouns in the Nominative Case

ou must memorize the personal pronouns along with their auxiliary verbs in Serbian in their present, future, and past tense forms. This is the first step you should take when learning Serbian. You can check this post for more detailed explanations about the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns:

English	Serbian
I	ja
you (singular)	ti
he	on
she	ona
it	ono
we	mi
you (plural)	vi
they	oni

Example:

• English: I’m watching a movie.
• Serbian: (Ja) gledam film.

Note: In Serbian, the pronoun “ja” (I) is often omitted because the verb form “gledam” already indicates the first person singular. In this example, we’ve included “ja” to show the subject of the sentence, which is in the nominative case.

Demonstrative Pronouns in the Nominative Case

Demonstrative pronouns change based on gender and number.

Demonstrative Pronouns:

English	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
this	ovaj	ova	ovo	ovi	ove	ova
that	taj	ta	to	ti	te	ta
that	onaj	ona	ono	oni	one	ona

Example:

• English: That man watched the film.
• Serbian: Taj čovek je gledao film.

Possessive Pronouns in the Nominative Case

Possessive pronouns must agree with the noun they are describing in gender and number.

Possessive Pronouns:

English	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
my	moj	moji	moja	moje	moje	moja
your (sing.)	tvoj	tvoji	tvoja	tvoje	tvoje	tvoja
his/its	njegov	njegovi	njegova	njegove	njegovo	njegova
her	njen	njeni	njena	njene	njeno	njena
our	naš	naši	naša	naše	naše	naša
your (pl.)	vaš	vaši	vaša	vaše	vaše	vaša
their	njihov	njihovi	njihova	njihove	njihovo	njihova

Examples:

1. Masculine Noun:
   • English: My brother is watching a movie.
   • Serbian: Moj brat gleda film.
2. Feminine Noun:
   • English: My sister is watching a movie.
   • Serbian: Moja sestra gleda film.

Important Points about the Nominative Case

• The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence.
• Words in the nominative case remain in their original form.
• Pronouns and adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.
• Serbian does not use articles (like “a” or “the” in English), which simplifies usage in the nominative case.

Example:

• English: The kid is playing in the park. / A kid is playing in the park.
• Serbian: Dete se igra u parku.

Here, the noun dete (child) remains unchanged in the nominative case.

Tips for Learning the Nominative Case

• Learn Serbian genders first, as they are crucial for using pronouns and adjectives correctly.
• Study personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns to understand how they change based on gender and number.
• Practice with verbs and adjectives to see how they agree with nouns in sentences.
• Remember that in the nominative case, the words remain in their base form, making it one of the easier cases to learn.

Further Resources

To learn more about:

• Personal Pronouns, read this post.
• Demonstrative & Possessive Pronouns, read this post.
• Gender in Serbian, read this post.
• Adjectives, read this post.