Noun-Based and Verb-Based Style
In Serbian, a proposition can be expressed dynamically using a finite verb clause (verbal style) or condensed into an abstract noun phrase headed by a deverbal noun (nominal style). Verbal style highlights time, aspect, and the acting agent, making it natural in everyday speech and literature. Nominal style packages actions into static concepts or events, making it indispensable in administrative, legal, and academic registers.
How It Works
At Level 6, understanding the stylistic and structural tension between номинализација (nominalization) and глаголска реченица (finite verbal clause) is essential for sophisticated writing and reading.
1. Syntactic Restructuring and Case Mapping
When a dependent clause is condensed into a nominal phrase (реченична кондензација):
- Verb → Deverbal Noun: усвајати → усвајање; прегледати → преглед; пасти → пад.
- Direct Object (Accusative) → Objective Genitive (објекатски генитив): Потписали су споразум → потписивање споразума.
- Subject (Nominative) → Subjective Genitive or Possessive: Директор је дошао → долазак директора / директоров долазак.
- Transitive Argument Realization and Ambiguity: When both subject and object are present, the direct object canonically remains in the genitive while the subject/agent becomes a possessive adjective (директорово потписивање уговора) or an agentive periphrasis (потписивање уговора од стране директора, though prescriptive authorities note that од стране is an administrative calque that should be used sparingly in natural prose). With an isolated genitive modifier, syntactic ambiguity frequently arises between a subjective and objective reading (e.g., осуда друштва can denote society doing the condemning or society being condemned; дочек председника can mean welcoming the president or the president welcoming guests).
- Conjunctions → Prepositional Phrases:
– Temporal: Пошто / Након што се закон усвоји... → По усвајању / Након усвајања закона... (note that temporal по governs the locative whereas након takes the genitive; strictly immediate conjunctions like чим condense with an intensifier: Чим се усвоји... → Одмах по усвајању...)
– Causal: Пошто су цене порасле... → Услед пораста цена... (using услед for formal cause, alongside related formal prepositions such as поводом for occasion and посредством for means)
– Purposive: Да би заштитили податке... → Ради заштите података...
2. Analytical Predicates (Декомпоновање предиката)
A central manifestation of nominal style in formal, journalistic, and administrative Serbian is predicate decomposition (декомпоновани or аналитички предикат). Instead of using a synthetic finite verb, the core verbal meaning is transferred to a deverbal noun governed by a semantically light or operational verb (e.g., вршити, извршити, постићи, донети, пружати):
- прегледати → извршити преглед (Лекар је извршио преглед)
- договорити се → постићи договор (Делегације су постигле договор)
- утицати → вршити утицај (вршити снажан утицај на тржиште)
- одлучити → донети одлуку
3. Semantic Trade-Offs: Aspect Preservation vs. Neutralization
Nominal constructions suppress overt verbal inflection: tense (перфекат, презент), mood, and person. Regarding aspect, standard Serbian frequently preserves aspectual distinctions derivationally through parallel deverbal nouns: an imperfective noun denotes an ongoing process or activity (e.g., решавање, обећавање, исплаћивање, прегледање), whereas a perfective/root noun marks a bounded event or result (e.g., решење, обећање, исплата, преглед). Complete aspectual neutralization (неутрализација глаголског вида) occurs primarily where only a single deverbal form is available (such as усвајање), leaving aspect to be inferred from the context or governing prepositions (e.g., durative током усвајања vs. telic по усвајању). Moreover, the agent is frequently suppressed or demoted to a peripheral modifier, linking directly to strategies used in passive constructions and agent backgrounding. In contrast, finite verbal clauses maintain vivid temporal progression, clear agency, and syntactic dynamism.
4. Register and Stylistic Awareness
- Administrative and Legal (административно-правни стил): Favors nominalization and decomposed predicates for their objective, non-personal, and formulaic clarity.
- Scientific and Academic (научно-технички стил): Employs nominal syntagmas for conceptual density.
- Conversational (разговорни стил) and Literary (уметнички стил): Strongly favors finite verbal clauses. Serbian stylists (such as Ivan Klajn) warn against excessive reliance on номинални стил and канцеларијски стил in standard prose, particularly because it leads to cumbersome genitive stacking (рогобатно гомилање генитива) and lifeless syntax. Becoming proficient at this level means knowing not just how to compress clauses, but how to unpack complex noun strings back into fluent verbal sentences.
Examples (6)
- По усвајању новог закона, министарство ће приступити изради подзаконских аката.
Upon adoption of the new law, the ministry will proceed to the drafting of secondary legislation.
Word by Word: After adoption of-new law, ministry will proceed to-drafting of-secondary acts.
Administrative nominal style: the posterior temporal clause 'пошто се усвоји' is condensed into the preposition 'по' + locative phrase, and the verbal complement is nominalized ('изради').
- Пошто се усвоји нови закон, министарство ће почети да израђује подзаконске акте.
After the new law is adopted, the ministry will begin to draft secondary legislation.
Word by Word: After itself adopts new law, ministry will begin to drafts secondary acts.
The verbal counterpart of the preceding example: dynamic, fluid, and using finite verbal structures rather than abstract nouns.
- До прекида у водоснабдевању дошло је услед пуцања главне цеви.
The disruption in the water supply occurred due to the bursting of the main pipe.
Word by Word: To disruption in water-supply came it due-to bursting of-main pipe.
Formal journalistic and technical register: causal connection formulated via 'услед' + deverbal noun in the genitive ('пуцања').
- Водоснабдевање је прекинуто зато што је пукла главна цев.
The water supply was cut off because the main pipe burst.
Word by Word: Water-supply was interrupted because that burst main pipe.
Verbal style: explicit past action with clear cause and effect, much preferred in spoken and standard narrative Serbian.
- Ради обезбеђивања материјалних доказа, инспектори су наложили привремено затварање објекта.
In order to secure material evidence, inspectors ordered the temporary closure of the facility.
Word by Word: For-the-purpose-of securing of-material evidence, inspectors ordered temporary closing of-facility.
Official nominal style: 'ради' + verbal noun replaces a purposive clause ('да би обезбедили'), and 'затварање' replaces 'да се објекат затвори'.
- Инспектори су наложили да се објекат привремено затвори како би се обезбедили докази.
Inspectors ordered that the facility be temporarily closed in order for evidence to be secured.
Word by Word: Inspectors ordered that itself facility temporarily close how would itself secure evidence.
Unpacked finite equivalent: natural clausal coordination using subordinate clauses that avoid heavy abstract nouns.
Common Mistakes
Accumulating chained genitives without prepositions (nagomilavanje genitiva).
Радимо у циљу решавања питања обезбеђивања смештаја радника.Радимо на томе да решимо како да обезбедимо смештај за раднике.Stringing multiple verbal nouns and modifiers in the genitive case creates unreadable, stiff prose. Serbian stylistic norms recommend breaking such chains into finite subordinate clauses.
Overusing 'од стране' to express the agent in nominal phrases.
Усвајање овог предлога од стране одбора је неопходно.Неопходно је да одбор усвоји овај предлог.Using 'од стране' is often an unnatural calque from foreign passive structures. Serbian stylistics advises replacing it with a subject-verb clause or a possessive adjective unless ambiguity cannot otherwise be resolved.
Using heavy nominalizations in casual speech or narrative writing.
Након мог повратка кући, обавио сам ручавање.Пошто сам се вратио кући, ручао сам.Nominalized constructions like 'обављање ручавања' sound pedantic, unnatural, and comical in conversational Serbian. Everyday speech strongly demands finite verbs.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To contrast nominal style (condensed verbal nouns with genitive modifiers) with verbal style (finite clauses), learners need to know how clausal arguments map onto genitive case complements and how subordinate conjunctions link logical relations across finite clauses.
- Possession With the Genitive
Nominalization shifts core clausal arguments (subjects and direct objects) into genitive noun phrases modifying the deverbal noun.
Level 2 - због тога што / с обзиром на то даExplicit Causal Links
Understanding how finite causal/logical subordinate clauses express events is necessary to transform them into condensed noun phrases (or vice versa).
Level 4 - то што / то даFacts and Propositions as Complements
Understanding how propositional content and actions are packaged into nominalized structures provides the bridge between finite clauses and abstract noun phrases.
Level 5
Related Patterns
- -ње / -ћеVerbal Nouns and Their Complements
Verbal nouns form the morphological core of nominalization, taking adnominal genitive arguments instead of verbal objects.
Level 6 - Agency in Formal Writing
Both passive constructions and nominalizations serve to background or omit the agent in formal discourse.
Level 6 - услед / поводом / посредством + GenitiveFormal Cause Occasion and Means
These formal prepositions introduce adverbial modifiers with genitive noun phrases, with 'услед' expressing formal cause, 'поводом' expressing occasion, and 'посредством' expressing means.
Level 4 - Simultaneous Actions With a Verbal Adverb
Verbal adverbs provide an alternate method of clause condensation, though they require strict subject identity unlike nominalizations.
Level 4
Practice Noun-Based and Verb-Based Style in Bubblegum
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