Adjective Endings

Level 3

Adjectives change with the noun's case.

How It Works

casemasc. and neuterfeminine
genitive-og (novog)-e (nove)
dative, locative-om (novom)-oj (novoj)
instrumental-im (novim)-om (novom)
accusativesee below-u (novu)

In the accusative, a masculine adjective with a person or animal takes the genitive form (-og), and a masculine adjective with a thing looks like the nominative: Čekam dobrog prijatelja but Imam novi sto. Neuter stays the same as the nominative.

Longer forms with an extra syllable, such as dobrome and dobromu, also exist, mostly in older or very formal writing. The short forms in the table are enough for speech and writing.

The same endings work for any adjective with a hard stem, such as dobar, stari and velik. A few adjectives with a soft stem, such as naš and tuđ, take -e where others take -o: našeg, našem.

Examples (4)

  1. Pijem kafu s dobrom prijateljicom.

    I drink coffee with a good friend.

    Dobrom matches the feminine instrumental.

  2. Živim u staroj kući.

    I live in an old house.

    Staroj is the feminine locative.

  3. Čekam dobrog prijatelja.

    I am waiting for a good friend.

    Animate masculine accusative looks like the genitive.

  4. Radim bez novog računara.

    I work without a new computer.

    Novog is the genitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Not matching the case.

    Pijem kafu s dobrim prijateljicom.
    Pijem kafu s dobrom prijateljicom.

    The feminine instrumental needs -om.

How It Connects

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Adjective EndingsLevel 3

Learn This First

Adjectives change with case.

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Patterns that build on this one.