наш / ваш

Our and Your

Level 1Sounds Like naš; vaš u učtivom obraćan̂u

Use наш for "our" and ваш for "your". When speaking politely to one person (formal "you"), use ваш just like you would for a group. Both words always match the thing owned in gender, number, and case.

How It Works

In Serbian, possessive pronouns indicate belonging while agreeing completely in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

1. First-Person Plural: Наш (Our / Ours)
Refers to something belonging to a group that includes the speaker:

  • Masculine: наш (singular: наш професор - our professor; plural: наши професори)
  • Feminine: наша (singular: наша породица - our family; plural: наше породице)
  • Neuter: наше (singular: наше село - our village; plural: наша села)

Because the stem ends in the soft consonant -ш, the neuter singular ending is -е rather than the typical -о.

2. Second-Person Plural and Polite: Ваш (Your / Yours)
The pronoun ваш serves two primary functions:

  • Plural "your": Addressing multiple individuals (e.g., "your house, kids").
  • Polite singular address (персирање): Addressing a single person formally (professors, doctors, clients, elders, or strangers). This aligns with the polite subject pronoun ви.

Its gender forms follow the exact same pattern as наш:

  • Masculine: ваш (singular: ваш стан - your apartment; plural: ваши станови)
  • Feminine: ваша (singular: ваша књига - your book; plural: ваше књиге)
  • Neuter: ваше (singular: ваше писмо - your letter; plural: ваша писма)

Notice that even when speaking respectfully to a single man, you still say Ваша књига if the item is feminine. The pronoun always agrees with the grammatical gender of the item, not the gender of the person you are addressing.

3. Capitalization Rules
In standard Serbian orthography, capitalizing Ваш (as well as Ви) in personal correspondence (such as formal letters or emails) addressed to a single individual is an optional stylistic marker used to express heightened respect (наглашено поштовање). Writing ваш in lowercase is fully standard and grammatically correct in formal correspondence as well. When addressing a group of people, or in general texts, public notices, and signs, lowercase ваш is always used.

Examples (5)

  1. Ово је наш нови стан.

    This is our new apartment.

    Word by Word: This is our new apartment.

    Стан is a masculine singular noun, so the pronoun takes the masculine form наш.

  2. Госпођо Милић, да ли је ово ваша торба?

    Mrs. Milić, is this your bag?

    Word by Word: Mrs. Milić, whether is this your bag?

    Ваша is used for polite address to one person. It is feminine singular to agree with торба.

  3. Професоре, ово је ваше место.

    Professor, this is your seat.

    Word by Word: Professor, this is your place.

    Место is neuter singular, so the polite pronoun appears in the neuter form ваше.

  4. Хвала Вам на Вашем писму.

    Thank you for your letter.

    Word by Word: Thanks to-you on your letter.

    In direct formal mail addressed to a single person, polite pronouns like Вам and Вашем are capitalized.

  5. Ово су наши пријатељи из Београда.

    These are our friends from Belgrade.

    Word by Word: These are our friends from Belgrade.

    Пријатељи is masculine plural, so the matching form is наши.

Common Mistakes

  • Matching the pronoun's gender to the person being spoken to rather than the noun owned.

    Господине Петровићу, ово је Ваш књига.
    Господине Петровићу, ово је Ваша књига.

    Even though you are addressing a man, књига is feminine. The possessive pronoun must agree with књига (feminine), becoming Ваша.

  • Capitalizing Ваш when writing to an entire group or team.

    Поштоване колеге, хвала на Вашем труду.
    Поштоване колеге, хвала на вашем труду.

    According to Serbian orthography, capitalization of polite pronouns applies only when addressing one individual in direct correspondence. For a group, keep it lowercase.

  • Using the neuter ending -о instead of the soft stem ending -е.

    Ово је нашо село.
    Ово је наше село.

    Because наш ends with the soft consonant -ш, the neuter singular takes -е, giving наше and ваше.

How It Connects

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

наш / вашLevel 1Our and Your

Learn This First

To learn 'наш' and the polite use of 'ваш', learners must understand basic possessive pronouns, grammatical gender agreement, and the polite 'Ви' register.

Words in This Pattern

нашвашваш