добар / добро

Adjectives and Adverbs

Level 2Sounds Like pridev i prilog: dobar; dobro

Use добар (and its inflected forms: добра, добро, добри...) when describing a person, place, or thing. Use добро when describing how an action is done, with sensory/state verbs like осећати се, or impersonally (Добро је).

How It Works

Understanding the difference between добар and добро requires looking at both syntax (what word is being modified) and morphology (endings).

1. Adjective Agreement and the Fleeting A:
As an adjective, добар modifies nouns either attributively (добар студент) or predicatively with the copula бити у презенту (Студент је добар). Adjectives must follow слагање придева са именицом.
Notice the fleeting a (непостојано а): the vowel -а- appears in the indefinite masculine nominative singular (добар) as well as the inanimate accusative singular (добар дан, добар посао). When inflectional endings are added, or in the definite masculine form (добри), it drops out: feminine добра, neuter добро, plural добри, добре, добра.

2. The Adverb Form:
Manner adverbs in Serbian derived from descriptive adjectives typically end in -о (e.g., добар → добро, matching the neuter singular adjective form), though stems ending in a soft consonant take -е instead (e.g., лош → лоше, врућ → вруће). Syntactically, the adverb добро modifies a verb or predicate (Он добро говори српски) or an adjective (добро познат), and can itself be modified by an adverb of degree (врло добро). It never changes its ending to agree with any subject or object.

3. English False Friends and Expressing Well-Being:
In English, perception verbs often take adjectives ('I feel good', 'She looks good'). In Serbian, verbs like осећати се or изгледати can take either predicate adjectives or manner adverbs for specific emotional or physical states (e.g., both Осећам се уморан / уморно and Она изгледа срећна / срећно are common and standard). However, when expressing general well-being or health, Serbian specifically requires the adverb добро (or лоше):
• Осећам се добро. (I feel well / fine.)
• Она изгледа добро. (She looks well / healthy.)

4. Demonstratives vs. Adverbs:
Pay attention to the subject:
• Ово је добро. → 'Ово' is a neuter demonstrative pronoun; добро is a neuter predicate adjective.
• Овде је добро. → 'Овде' is an adverb of place; добро is an impersonal adverbial predicate ('It is good here').

Examples (5)

  1. Марко је добар студент.

    Marko is a good student.

    Word by Word: Marko is good student.

    'Добар' is an adjective in the masculine nominative singular, directly modifying the noun 'студент'.

  2. Марко добро говори српски.

    Marko speaks Serbian well.

    Word by Word: Marko well speaks Serbian.

    'Добро' is an invariable adverb of manner describing how Marko performs the action of speaking ('говори').

  3. Она има добар посао и добро зарађује.

    She has a good job and earns well.

    Word by Word: She has good job and well earns.

    This contrasts both words in one sentence: 'добар' modifies the masculine noun 'посао', while 'добро' modifies the verb 'зарађује'.

  4. Данас се осећам веома добро.

    Today I feel very well.

    Word by Word: Today REFL I-feel very well.

    Reflexive state verbs like 'осећати се' require the adverb 'добро', not an agreeing adjective.

  5. То дете је увек добро и мирно.

    That child is always good and calm.

    Word by Word: That child is always good and calm.

    Here, 'добро' is not an adverb; it is the neuter singular adjective agreeing with the neuter noun 'дете'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'добро' as an uninflected adjective for all genders

    Он је добро кувар.
    Он је добар кувар.

    Learners often treat 'добро' as a universal word for 'good'. When describing a masculine noun like 'кувар', you must use the masculine adjective form 'добар'.

  • Using the masculine adjective instead of an adverb with verbs

    Он прича српски добар.
    Он прича српски добро.

    Adjectives cannot modify verbs. To describe how someone speaks, you must use the manner adverb 'добро' ('well').

  • Failing to drop the fleeting 'а' in inflected adjective forms

    Она је добара девојка.
    Она је добра девојка.

    The vowel '-а-' in 'добар' is fleeting. It drops out before vocalic case endings, giving 'добра', 'добро', 'добри', never 'добара'.

How It Connects

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

добар / доброLevel 2Adjectives and Adverbs

Learn This First

To contrast an adjective like 'добар' with an adverb like 'добро', learners must understand how adjectives decline and agree with nouns, as well as how verbs describe actions modified by adverbs.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

добардобро