Hey, Serbology! I read your blog about funny Serbian phrases and I really like it. I would like to communicate well with my friends from Serbia, but the grammar is killing me. Can you help me? The Serbian language is hard!
This is the message we got last week. We are happy to hear your feedback, thank you 🙂
The last sentence intrigued us. Is Serbian easy to learn? Or difficult? Let’s dive in and decide together.
Is Serbian Difficult to Learn? That Is the Question
It’s hard to answer this one. It depends on many factors. Here are some to consider:
- How close your native language is to the Slavic language group
- Your motivation to learn Serbian
- The exposure to the language you have daily
Let’s go a step further. We created a poll for our students last week and asked them: “Is Serbin an easy language to learn?” Most of them voted Yes.
They said that some things are a breeze and that others are tough to master.
You see, the Serbian language is on the list of the most complicated languages by the Foreign Service Institute, but it is the way you learn it that matters.
Let’s analyze some key language aspects that our students mentioned.
Writing Is Child’s Play
There are two official scripts that we use: latinica (Latin alphabet) and ćirilica (Cyrillic alphabet). How is this easy? Well, it is one letter = one sound system in both scripts. There are just three exceptions in Latin (Lj, Nj, and Dž).
Ćirilica | Latinica | Ćirilica | Latinica |
А | A | Н | N |
Б | B | Њ | Nj |
В | V | О | O |
Г | G | П | P |
Д | D | Р | R |
Ђ | Đ | С | S |
Е | E | Т | T |
Ж | Ž | Ћ | Ć |
З | Z | У | U |
И | I | Ф | F |
Ј | J | Х | H |
К | K | Ц | C |
Л | L | Ч | Č |
Љ | Lj | Џ | Dž |
М | M | Ш | Š |
We use the Latin alphabet mostly in daily life and messaging and the Cyrillic alphabet in official documents (pay attention if you need your documents translated into Serbian).
If you haven’t switched your phone to Serbian Latin, try it out and spot a difference between English and Serbian.
Reading Is So – So
According to our students, reading is easy once you master the so-called “terrible four.” What are these? They are the sounds that don’t have an English counterpart.
Đ | đ |
Ć | ć |
Ž | ž |
Lj | lj |
You may be wondering how to grasp them. If you have been reading our blogs, you know that we believe in the power of practice. So, here are some sentences for you to read aloud:
- Deda Đurađ je želeo da njegova ćerka Ljiljana dođe što pre u vrtić.
- Žikica je ljutito jurio ćurku u dvorištu, a Ljuba se bućkao u bazenu.
- Ćira je veselo pevao dok je žarko sunce sijalo.
Try reading these a couple of times a day.
Simple Tense System – Is It Really
It’s unlikely that you’d feel overwhelmed by the number of tenses in Serbian. At least our students don’t. We primarily use three main ones: past, present, and future.
That’s why we suggest that you learn these core tenses first if you’re a beginner and want to start communicating in a matter of weeks.
By the way, there’s only one prezent (there’s no simple, continuous nor perfect tense).
Verbal Aspect Is a Nightmare
We’ve come to the one that most language learners can’t stand – glagolski vid. Let’s see it in practice:
Okrečila sam sobu juče. I painted a room yesterday.
Krečila sam sobu juče. I was painting a room yesterday.
There are two verb aspects in Serbian: imperfective and perfective. These aspects show whether something is in progress or has been achieved. What does this mean? It is crucial to choose the correct aspect to convey the right meaning.
Does this sound hard for you? Probably not. However, once you change the aspect, the meaning also changes. That’s the tricky part.
But don’t worry too much about this. With various activities, you’ll get this in no time.
Here are some other examples:
- skakati – skočiti (jump)
- pisati – prepisati (write)
- raditi – uraditi (do)
- crtati – nacrtati (draw)
Case System – Petar Petru plete plot
If verbal aspects didn’t make your head spin, the Serbian case system sure will.
Serbian has seven cases, and each adjective, pronoun, and noun changes its form in the sentence. Why does it happen? Because they take different roles (subject, predicate, object, etc.). You may say that English has cases, too. However, unlike English, the Serbian cases require using different endings.
Did we mention that we have plural and singular forms? And the feminine, neuter, and masculine gender. You have assumed it right – they all have different endings.
Look at these examples in singular form:
Cases | Noun f. | Pronoun m. | Adjective n. |
Nominative | devojka girl | on he | ukusno tasty |
Genitive | devojke | njega, ga | ukusnog |
Dative | devojci | njemu, mu | ukusnom |
Accusative | devojku | njega, ga | ukusan |
Vocative | devojko | / | ukusni |
Instrumental | devojkom | njim | ukusnim |
Locative | devojci | njemu | ukusnom |
These are in plural form:
Cases | Noun f. | Pronoun m. | Adjective n. |
Nominative | devojke girls | oni they | ukusni tasty |
Genitive | devojaka | njih | ukusnih |
Dative | devojkama | njima | ukusnim |
Accusative | devojke | njih | ukusne |
Vocative | devojke | / | ukusni |
Instrumental | devojkama | njima | ukusnim |
Locative | devojkama | njima | ukusnim |
If you pay attention to the subtitle, you’ll notice that we have different cases of the noun Petar. Can you guess the cases? You’ll find the answer below.
Accents – Cherry on The Top
To top everything, here come the Serbian accents. What is so difficult about them? You can change the meaning of the words depending on where and how you stress them. Also, you can turn interrogative sentences into questions.
Student Mike: “Are you serious, teacher Ana?”
Teacher Ana: “Yes, I am. Is Serbian hard to learn?”
Student Mike: “Yes, it is! I am afraid I’ll never learn it.”
True story.
Here are some nouns which change their meaning depending on the way you stress them:
- grád (city) ; gràd (hail)
- kósa (hair) ; kòsa (sloping, slanted)
- zavijáti (a wolf’s howl) ; zàvijati (to wrap)
Here’s an example of how sentences change:
John: Završio sam zadatak. – I did my task.
Tina: Dolaziš sutra. – You’re coming tomorrow.
John: Dolazim sutra? Nisam bio obavešten. – I am coming tomorrow? I haven’t been informed.
This language aspect is challenging for those learners whose native language doesn’t use tonal distinctions. You’ll succeed in pronouncing words correctly with a lot of practice and exposure to the language.
Are You Worried? Don’t Be
Let’s return to the question from the beginning: “Is Serbian easy to learn?” It really depends on your language goal. If it is daily communication with your Serbian relatives and friends, you’ll be good to go in a few months. But, if you want to study or work in Serbia, it’ll probably take you a year to reach a limited working proficiency.
Here’s the answer about cases:
1. Petar – nominative
2. Petru – dative
If you are highly motivated to learn Serbian but don’t know where to start, contact us, and we’ll help you reach your language target.
Written by Sanja Dulovic