Describing One Person or Thing
In Serbian, an adjective must match the gender of the noun it describes. When talking about one item in the subject position (nominative singular), masculine adjectives end in a consonant or -и, feminine adjectives end in -а, and neuter adjectives end in -о (or -е after soft consonants).
How It Works
In Serbian, adjectives in the nominative singular serve two key roles: they can modify a noun directly (attributive: добар пријатељ) or complete a sentence after the verb бити (predicative: Пријатељ је добар).
Basic Endings
- Masculine: Has a zero-ending consonant in the indefinite form (нов, добар) and -и in the definite form (нови, добри). In everyday spoken speech, -и is very common. Certain adjectives, like relational ones ending in -ски, exist only with -и (e.g., српски).
- Feminine: Ends in -а (нова, добра, топла).
- Neuter: Ends in -о after hard consonants (ново, лепо), but requires -е after soft consonants (ј, љ, њ, ћ, ђ, ч, џ, ш, ж), such as вруће, лоше, and свеже.
Sound Changes to Watch For
Many masculine adjectives have a 'fleeting A' (непостојано а) that appears only between the final consonants of the indefinite masculine singular: добар becomes feminine добра and neuter добро (not *добара). Likewise, топао changes to топла and топло due to historical sound shifts.
Examples (4)
- Овај нови стан је веома светао.
This new apartment is very bright.
Word by Word: This new apartment is very bright.
Shows both the attributive definite adjective (нови) and predicative adjective (светао) agreeing with a masculine singular noun.
- Наша нова кућа је велика и уредна.
Our new house is big and tidy.
Word by Word: Our new house is big and tidy.
The feminine noun 'кућа' takes feminine adjective endings in -а across both attributive (нова) and predicative (велика, уредна) positions.
- Данас се пије само вруће млеко.
Today only hot milk is being drank.
Word by Word: Today REFL drinks only hot milk.
Illustrates the neuter soft-stem ending -е on 'вруће' modifying the neuter noun 'млеко'.
- Тај паметан студент увек учи.
That smart student always studies.
Word by Word: That smart student always studies.
Shows the fleeting A in the masculine adjective 'паметан' (which becomes 'паметна' in feminine and 'паметно' in neuter).
Common Mistakes
Using -е instead of -о for neuter adjectives with soft stem endings.
Ово је врућо млеко.Ово је вруће млеко.Neuter stems ending in soft (palatal) consonants (like ћ, ш, ж, ч, ј) take -е rather than -о.
Keeping the fleeting A when forming feminine or neuter adjectives.
Ана је паметана девојка.Ана је паметна девојка.The 'а' in masculine 'паметан' or 'добар' is fleeting; it drops in the feminine (паметна, добра) and neuter (паметно, добро).
Matching the ending to the noun's final letter rather than its grammatical gender.
Ова ноћ је хладан.Ова ноћ је хладна.The noun 'ноћ' (night) is feminine despite ending in a consonant, so in the nominative singular it requires the feminine adjective ending -а ('хладна').
How It Connects
Learn This First
To correctly select the masculine (-и/cons.), feminine (-а), or neuter (-о/-е) adjective ending in the singular, you first need to recognize the gender of the noun being described and understand the basic nominative form.
Related Patterns
- Noun Gender
Understanding noun gender is essential because every adjective chooses its ending based on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Level 1 - Adjective Agreement
Covers the general agreement rules between adjectives and nouns across numbers and cases.
Level 2 - Adjectives After Be
Focuses on adjectives used after the verb 'to be' to describe the subject.
Level 1 - добар / доброAdjectives and Adverbs
Helps distinguish between neuter adjectives ending in -о/-е and adverbs of manner that share the same shape.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Describing One Person or Thing in Bubblegum
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