двојица / тројица

Counting Male People

Level 3Sounds Like dvoǰica; troǰica

Numeral nouns ending in -ица (such as двојица = 'two men', тројица = 'three men') are used specifically to count male persons. They decline like feminine a-stem nouns and require the following noun or preceding pronoun to be in the genitive plural.

How It Works

In Serbian, counting human beings involves nuances that do not exist in English. Numeral nouns in -ица (brojne imenice na -ica) are dedicated exclusively to groups of male persons (men, boys).

1. Formation
They are built from collective stems plus -ица:
• 2: двојица
• 3: тројица
• 4: четворица
• 5: петорица
• 6: шесторица
• 10: десеторица
• Both men: обојица
Note: They do not exist for numbers ending in 1 (e.g., 21, 31) or round nouns like 100 or 1,000.

2. Case Government
• A noun describing who the men are must be in the genitive plural: четворица радника (four workers), тројица пријатеља (three male friends).
• If accompanied by a personal pronoun, the pronoun is placed in the genitive plural: нас двојица ('the two of us'), вас тројица ('the three of you'), њих четворица ('the four of them').

3. Declension
Although they denote men, grammatically these words belong to the regular feminine -а noun declension (Class II) and decline through all cases in the singular:
• N: двојица
• G: двојице
• D/L: двојици
• A: двојицу
• I: са двојицом

4. Predicate Agreement
• In the present tense, verbs take the plural: Двојица раде, Нас двојица знамо.
• In the past tense (перфекат), standard Serbian permits either semantic agreement (masculine plural participle: су дошли) or formal neuter plural/paucal agreement (ending in -а: су дошла).

Examples (4)

  1. Нас двојица смо завршили посао на време.

    The two of us [men] finished the job on time.

    Word by Word: Us two-men are finished work on time.

    Notice that 'нас' is in the genitive plural, paired with the male numeral noun 'двојица'.

  2. У канцеларији су седела тројица адвоката.

    Three [male] lawyers were sitting in the office.

    Word by Word: In office were sitting three-men of-lawyers.

    The masculine noun 'адвокат' stands in the genitive plural ('адвоката') following 'тројица'.

  3. Полиција је разговарала са четворицом сведока.

    The police spoke with four [male] witnesses.

    Word by Word: Police is spoken with four-men of-witnesses.

    Shows the instrumental singular case ending '-ом' ('са четворицом') governed by the preposition 'са'.

  4. Обојица су одмах прихватила понуду.

    Both of them [men] accepted the offer immediately.

    Word by Word: Both-men are immediately accepted offer.

    'Обојица' means 'both men', with the past participle showing the accepted standard '-a' agreement.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'двојица' or 'тројица' for mixed-gender groups

    Марко и Ана, вас двојица сте супер.
    Марко и Ана, вас двоје сте супер.

    Numeral nouns in '-ица' are exclusively for male persons. When referring to mixed groups (e.g., Marko and Ana), you must use the collective numeral 'двоје'.

  • Using nominative pronouns instead of genitive pronouns

    Ми двојица идемо у биоскоп.
    Нас двојица идемо у биоскоп.

    Pronouns modifying numeral nouns must be in the genitive plural ('нас', 'вас', 'њих'), never the nominative ('ми', 'ви', 'они').

  • Leaving the numeral noun uninflected in oblique cases

    Причао сам са тројица колега.
    Причао сам са тројицом колега.

    Unlike some collective numerals that resist inflection, numeral nouns in '-ица' decline fully like regular feminine nouns ending in '-а' (Instrumental: 'са тројицом').

How It Connects

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

двојица / тројицаLevel 3Counting Male People

Learn This First

To use 'двојица' and 'тројица', learners need an understanding of basic small numbers, the genitive plural complement required by these words, and the declension and agreement pattern of masculine nouns ending in -a.

Words in This Pattern

двојицатројица