-ови / -еви

Extended Masculine Plurals

Level 2Sounds Like proširena množina na -ovi; -evi

Most single-syllable masculine nouns in Serbian expand their stem before adding regular plural endings: -ови (-ovi) after hard consonants and -еви (-evi) after soft (palatal) consonants.

How It Works

In Serbian, most one-syllable masculine nouns (along with a specific group of two-syllable nouns) expand their stem in the plural with -ов- or -ев- before adding the regular plural endings.

1. Choosing Between -ови and -еви:
• Use -ови after hard (non-palatal) consonants: град → градови (cities), мост → мостови (bridges), зид → зидови (walls). Nouns like сто → столови (tables) also take this pattern because the root historically ended in -л- (which vocalized to -о in the singular).
• Use -еви after soft (palatal) consonants (ј, љ, њ, ћ, ђ, ч, џ, ш, ж) and stems ending in ц: чај → чајеви (teas), краљ → краљеви (kings), нож → ножеви (knives), јеж → јежеви (hedgehogs). Nouns like цар → цареви (tsars/emperors) also take -еви because р was historically soft in this word.
• Palatalization with ц: Native monosyllabic nouns ending in -ц mutate ц → ч before -ев-: зец → зечеви (rabbits), стриц → стричеви (paternal uncles). Recent loanwords ending in -ц usually keep -ц- intact: виц → вицеви (jokes), плац → плацеви (building lots).
• Vowel dissimilation with -ј: When a monosyllabic stem ends in -ј and contains the root vowel -е-, it takes -ови instead of -еви to prevent repeating the /e/ sound: кеј → кејови (quays), спреј → спрејови (sprays).
• Doublets and hard-consonant exceptions: Certain stems ending in sibilants or consonant clusters permit both endings: мраз → мразови / мразеви (frosts), нос → носови / носеви (noses), вожд → вождови / вождеви (leaders). In addition, while -еви typically attaches to soft consonants, the noun пут → путеви (roads) is a classic exception where a hard consonant takes -еви. Modern loanwords like шут (kick/shot) standardly take шутови, though шутеви is heard colloquially by analogy.

2. Two-Syllable Nouns:
• Most two-syllable masculine nouns with a fleeting a take the short plural ending in -и, especially nouns ending in -ац (ловац → ловци, борац → борци). However, a small group preserves the extended plural: ветар → ветрови (winds), орао → орлови (eagles). A notable exception among -ац nouns is отац → очеви (fathers), which drops the fleeting а, mutates ц → ч, and simplifies the consonant cluster (отчеви → очеви) while taking -еви.
• A select group of inherently two-syllable nouns without a fleeting а also takes -ови / -еви: голуб → голубови (pigeons), лабуд → лабудови (swans), јастреб → јастребови (hawks), гавран → гавранови (ravens), појас → појасеви (belts), божур → божурови (peonies).

3. Complete Plural Declension:
The extension remains throughout the entire plural paradigm:
• Nominative / Vocative: градови
• Genitive: градова
• Dative / Locative / Instrumental: градовима
• Accusative: градове

4. Key Exceptions (Short Plurals):
Not all one-syllable masculine nouns take extended stems. Names of nationalities (Грк → Грци, Рус → Руси) and common everyday words like зуб → зуби (teeth), пас → пси (dogs), дан → дани (days), and коњ → коњи (horses) decline with the short plural in -и.

Examples (5)

  1. Сви ови градови имају дугу и занимљиву историју.

    All these cities have a long and interesting history.

    Word by Word: All these cities have long and interesting history.

    Nominative plural of the monosyllabic hard-stem noun 'град' (city) taking the extended plural suffix '-ови'.

  2. У ресторану смо наручили различите чајеве.

    In the restaurant, we ordered different teas.

    Word by Word: In restaurant AUX.1PL ordered different teas.

    Accusative plural of 'чај' (tea). Because the stem ends in the palatal 'ј', it takes the extended infix '-ев-' before the accusative plural ending '-е'.

  3. После неколико часова граматике, направили смо кратку паузу.

    After several grammar classes, we took a short break.

    Word by Word: After several classes of-grammar, made AUX.1PL short break.

    Genitive plural of 'час' governed by 'неколико'. Notice how the infix '-ов-' remains throughout the case paradigm before the genitive ending '-а'.

  4. У историјским књигама читамо о средњовековним краљевима.

    In history books, we read about medieval kings.

    Word by Word: In historical books read.1PL about medieval kings.

    Locative plural of 'краљ' (king). The soft palatal 'љ' takes '-ев-' and the regular plural dative/locative/instrumental suffix '-има'.

  5. Јаки ветрови дувају са планине.

    Strong winds are blowing from the mountain.

    Word by Word: Strong winds blow from mountain.

    'Ветар' has two syllables in the nominative singular, but its stem reduces to one syllable ('ветр-') when the fleeting 'а' drops, triggering '-ови'.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the -ov-/-ev- infix in oblique plural cases.

    Живео сам у многим градима током студија.
    Живео сам у многим градовима током студија.

    The infix '-ов-' is not just a nominative plural marker; it is part of the expanded stem and must remain across all cases (e.g., dative/locative plural 'градовима', not 'градима').

  • Over-extending -ovi to longer masculine nouns that require standard short plurals.

    Сви студентови су положили испит.
    Сви студенти су положили испит.

    While many monosyllabic nouns and a specific group of two-syllable nouns take '-ови/-еви', masculine nouns with three or more syllables (like 'студент' or 'професор') take the regular short plural ending '-и'.

  • Applying extended plurals to monosyllabic ethnonyms or core irregular nouns.

    Овде живе многи Русови и Шкотови.
    Овде живе многи Руси и Шкоти.

    Monosyllabic names of nationalities strictly take the short plural ending '-и' (e.g., 'Рус' → 'Руси', 'Грк' → 'Грци').

How It Connects

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

-ови / -евиLevel 2Extended Masculine Plurals

Learn This First

To learn the extended masculine plurals (-ови/-еви), learners must understand basic masculine nouns ending in consonants and how regular nominative plurals are formed in Serbian.