Nominative: The Subject Form

Level 1

The nominative names the subject, and it is the form listed in the dictionary.

How It Works

Bosnian has seven cases, and the nominative is the first. You already know it: it is the form in the word lists.

The nominative answers Ko? (who) or Šta? (what) for the doer of the action:

  • Amir čita. Who reads? Amir.
  • Kafa je topla. What is warm? The coffee.
  • Moja sestra je ljekar. A noun after je is usually nominative too.
GenderNominativeTypical ending
masculinebrat, gradconsonant
femininesestra, kafa-a
neuterselo, more-o, -e

Some nouns break this pattern. Tata ends in -a but is masculine, and noć ends in a consonant but is feminine.

When a noun is the object, it often changes. That is the job of the accusative, covered soon.

Examples (4)

  1. Amir čita.

    Amir is reading.

    Amir is the subject, in the nominative.

  2. Kafa je topla.

    The coffee is warm.

    Kafa is the subject.

  3. Sarajevo je lijep grad.

    Sarajevo is a nice city.

    Grad after je is also nominative.

  4. Moja sestra radi u školi.

    My sister works at a school.

    Sestra is the subject, and moja agrees with it.

Common Mistakes

  • Learners keep the dictionary form for the object too.

    Pijem kafa.
    Pijem kafu.

    Kafa names the subject. As an object it becomes kafu.

How It Connects

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

Nominative: The Subject FormLevel 1

Learn This First

The nominative is the dictionary form of nouns.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

nominativ