Adjectives and Gender

Level 1

Adjective and noun share gender.

How It Works

masculine	feminine	neuter
dobar dan	dobra kafa	dobro jutro
nov sto	nova knjiga	novo selo
topao hljeb	topla pita	toplo mlijeko

First find the gender of the noun, then pick the matching adjective. Most masculine nouns end in a consonant, most feminine nouns in -a, and most neuter nouns in -o or -e.

Some masculine nouns end in -a, such as tata (dad) and sluga (servant). They still take masculine adjectives: dobar tata. A few adjectives lose or change a vowel, as in topao and topla.

The same idea works in the plural, which a later entry shows.

Examples (4)

Dobar dan!
Good day!
Dan is masculine.
Ovo je topla kafa.
This is warm coffee.
Kafa is feminine, so topla.
Dobro jutro, Amire!
Good morning, Amir!
Jutro is neuter, so dobro.
Moj tata je dobar.
My dad is good.
Tata ends in -a but takes masculine forms.

Common Mistakes

Not matching the noun.
Dobar kafa.
Dobra kafa.
Kafa is feminine, so the adjective takes -a.

How It Connects

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Adjectives and GenderLevel 1

Learn This First

Adjectives take the gender of the noun.

Three Genders
Agreement is by gender.
Foundations

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

dobarnovtopao

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