Language/Serbian/Grammar/Plural

Hello Everyone, 😊

In today's lesson, we will be delving into the topic of "Plural" in the Serbian language. As you may know, the use of plural forms is essential in many languages, including Serbian, and it's crucial to understand its rules and patterns to communicate effectively. In this lesson, we will explore the basics of forming the plural in Serbian, including the use of different noun endings and declension patterns.

Please feel free to contribute to this page by editing it if you have any suggestions or additional information to share.

We hope you enjoy this lesson and find it helpful in your language learning journey! 😎

After mastering this lesson, you might also be interested in exploring other aspects of Serbian Grammar: Verbs Infinitives, Verbs: Perfective and Imperfective, and Serbian Grammar: Pronouns, possessive pronouns & verbs future to further enhance your understanding of the Serbian language.

Introduction to Serbian plurals

In Serbian, the plural form of a noun is generally formed by changing the ending of the word. The rules governing these changes depend on the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) and the noun's ending in its singular form.

Plural formation based on gender

Masculine nouns

Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant. To form the plural, we typically add "-i" or "-ovi/-evi/-ovi" to the singular form, depending on the word.

1. Nouns ending in a consonant followed by "-i": pas (dog) -> psi (dogs) grad (city) -> gradovi (cities)
2. Nouns ending in a consonant followed by "-ovi/-evi/-ovi": profesor (professor) -> profesori (professors) čovek (man) -> ljudi (people)

Feminine nouns

Feminine nouns typically end in "-a" or "-i." To form the plural, we typically replace the "-a" with "-e" and replace the "-i" with "-i."

1. Nouns ending in "-a": žena (woman) -> žene (women) knjiga (book) -> knjige (books)
2. Nouns ending in "-i": prijateljica (female friend) -> prijateljice (female friends)

Neuter nouns

Neuter nouns typically end in "-o" or "-e." To form the plural, we typically replace the "-o" with "-a" and replace the "-e" with "-a."

1. Nouns ending in "-o": dete (child) -> deca (children) polje (field) -> polja (fields)
2. Nouns ending in "-e": jaje (egg) -> jaja (eggs) pero (feather) -> pera (feathers)

Practice exercises

Now, let's practice! Try to form the plurals for the following nouns:

1. stolica (chair)
2. reč (word)
3. brat (brother)
4. planina (mountain)
5. selo (village)

Plural in Serbian: Summary

Words ending with:

• a in plural form changes to e
• e,o in plural form changes to a
• Everything else gets suffix i
• There are possible exceptions from rule above like:
  • уво - уши (ear) ;
  • око - очи (eye)

Serbian language also have genitive plural, that makes that there are even 2 and in some cases 3 plural forms.

Genitive plural is used in counting, from numbers 2-4 have one form, and starting from 5 have another form.

Some genitive plurals are same as singular, but with different accent.

During counting, with numbers that ends with 1 (exception in 11, 111, 211, 5411...), noun is always in singular form. Other number endings (except for 11-19) apply rule from genitive plural.

Next words: врата (door), маказе (scissor), мердевине(ladder), кола (car) don't have singular form.

Also is in some casses present form of plural that is used to represent group of something: цвет-цветови-цвеће (flower), лист-листови-лишће (leaf).

Examples

Singular	Plural	Gen. plural 2-4	Gen. plural 5...	Translation
јабука	јабуке	јабуке	јабука	apple
крушка	крушке	крушке	крушака	pear
девојка	девојке	девојке	девојака	girl (adolescent)
коњ	коњи	коња	коња	horse
зид	зидови	зида	зидова	wall
нокат	нокти	нокта	ноктију	finger nail
мушкарац	мушкарци	мушкарца	мушкараца	man
жена	жене	жене	жена	woman
пас	пси	пса	паса	dog
уво	уши	ува	ушију	ear
рука	руке	руке	руку	arm
дан	дани	дана	дана	day
оловка	оловке	оловке	оловки	pen
дугме	дугмад	дугмета	дугмади	button

Other Lessons

• Nouns
• Adjectives
• Conditional Mood
• Questions
• How to Use Have
• Comaratives and Superlatives
• Be Polite
• Past Participle in Serbian
• How to Use Be