Basic Word Order

Level 1

Subject, verb, object is the plain order, and a different order puts the stress somewhere else.

How It Works

The neutral order is the one you use when nothing needs stress: Amir pije kafu. (Amir drinks coffee.)

The endings do the work that word order does in English. Look at kafu: the -u says it is the object. So a speaker can use Kafu pije Amir, and the basic meaning stays the same. The word at the front is the one the speaker cares about, or the one that is already known from the talk before.

  • Neutral: Lejla čita knjigu.
  • The book as the topic, stress on Lejla: Knjigu čita Lejla.
  • The subject is often left out: Čita knjigu. The verb ending already shows who.

Some nouns look the same as subject and as object, for example masculine things like autobus. When both look alike, the order tells you who does what, so keep the neutral order there.

Short words such as se, je and mi have their own fixed place, covered in the clitic entries.

Examples (4)

  1. Amir pije kafu.

    Amir drinks coffee.

    Subject, verb, object: the neutral order.

  2. Lejla čita knjigu.

    Lejla reads a book.

    Same order, and the -u shows the object.

  3. Kafu pije Amir.

    It is Amir who drinks the coffee.

    The coffee comes first as the topic, so the stress falls on Amir.

  4. Pijem kafu.

    I drink coffee.

    The subject is dropped because pijem shows it.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Basic Word OrderLevel 1

Learn This First

Word order is about simple sentences.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.