Plural nouns in the nominative
In the nominative plural, masculine nouns take -i (grad → gradovi/gradi), feminine -a nouns take -e (žena → žene), and neuter nouns take -a (selo → sela). Many short masculine nouns insert -ov-/-ev- (grad → gradovi).
Examples
- gradovi cities
- žene women
- sela villages
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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One grad — but how do you say several of them? An English -s won't work here. Serbian plurals have their own rules, and they depend on gender.
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This is the subject form — the answer to “who or what?”. And the ending depends on the noun's gender.
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Three genders, three endings. Masculine takes -i, feminine nouns in -a take -e, and neuter takes -a. Remember: i, e, a.
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Let's start with the feminine. Žena ends in -a; in the plural that -a becomes -e — žene. žena → žene
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Same with knjiga: it ends in -a, so the plural is knjige. knjiga → knjige
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Now the neuter. Selo ends in -o; in the plural that -o becomes -a — sela. selo → sela
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So jezero gives jezera too — again -o turns into -a. jezero → jezera
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Now the masculine. Longer nouns are easy: student takes -i — studenti, and profesor becomes profesori. student → studenti
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But watch the short masculine nouns — that's where people slip up. Grad isn't “gradi”. You insert -ov-, giving gradovi. Many one-syllable nouns work this way.
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So most gives mostovi, sin gives sinovi. After a soft consonant you get -ev-: kraj becomes krajevi. most → mostovi · kraj → krajevi
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One more detail: when the stem ends in k, g or h, that sound changes before -i. Vojnik becomes vojnici. vojnik → vojnici
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The biggest trap: don't add an English -s. There's no “gradovis” or “ženas”. Serbian picks the ending by gender — i, e or a.
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Look at all three genders together: masculine in -i, feminine in -e, neuter in -a. Spot the gender first, then you know the ending.
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To recap: masculine -i, feminine -e, neuter -a. Short masculine nouns insert -ov- or -ev-. And never an English -s.