Agreement With Coordinated Subjects

Level 4Sounds Like slagan̂e sa više subǰekata

When a subject has multiple parts joined by 'i' (and), the verb is almost always plural. For person, 1st person takes priority over 2nd and 3rd, while 2nd person beats 3rd. For gender in past participles and adjectives, any combination containing masculine—or mixed non-masculine genders—defaults to masculine plural (-i). If the verb precedes the conjoined subject, it often agrees simply with the nearest noun.

How It Works

Coordinating multiple subjects (вишеструки субјекат) requires resolving grammatical person, number, and gender between all conjoined elements and the predicate.

1. Person Hierarchy
Grammatical person follows a strict precedence ranking:

  • 1st Person Trumps All: ја + ти or ја + он/Марко → 1st person plural (ми смо).
  • 2nd Person Trumps 3rd: ти + он/Ана → 2nd person plural (ви сте).
  • 3rd Person Only: он + она → 3rd person plural (они су).

2. Gender Resolution (Participles & Adjectives)
In compound tenses like перфекат and with predicate adjectives, gender endings resolve according to specific rules:

  • Masculine & Feminine: Masculine nouns yield masculine plural -и (Петар и Марко су дошли). Feminine nouns yield feminine plural -е (Ана и Марија су дошле).
  • Neuter Nouns: When coordinated neuter nouns are singular, standard Serbian normative grammar requires the masculine plural ending -и: Село и поље су опустели (not *опустела). The neuter plural ending -а is strictly reserved for instances where the coordinated neuter nouns are already plural: Села и поља су опустела.
  • Mixed Genders: The default resolver in Serbian is masculine plural -и. This applies to male and female people (Отац и мајка су дошли), as well as mixed inanimates or neuter-feminine combinations (Столица и сто су били нови; Дете и мајка су изашли).

3. Linear Agreement (Verb–Subject Order)
When the predicate appears before coordinated subjects, natural speech and prose strongly favor closest conjunct agreement (контактно слагање). The verb agrees in gender and number with the first noun immediately following it: Из дворишта се чула песма (fem. sg.) и смех (masc. sg.).

4. Disjunctive Coordination ('или ... или')
When subjects are joined by или (or) expressing alternatives, singular agreement is standard if both conjuncts are singular: Или Марко или Петар ће доћи. If singular disjuncts differ in gender or number in compound tenses, the participle must agree with the closest conjunct: Или Марко или Марија је дошла.

Examples (5)

  1. Отац и мајка су отпутовали на одмор.

    Father and mother left on vacation.

    Word by Word: Father and mother are traveled on vacation.

    A masculine singular noun and a feminine singular noun resolve to the masculine plural participle ending -и.

  2. Марко и ја смо завршили извештај на време.

    Marko and I finished the report on time.

    Word by Word: Marko and I are finished report on time.

    Because 1st person takes priority over 3rd person, the predicate takes 1st person plural (смо завршили).

  3. Ти и Милица треба да пожурите.

    You and Milica need to hurry up.

    Word by Word: You and Milica need that you-hurry.

    Combining 2nd person (ти) with a 3rd person name resolves to 2nd person plural (пожурите).

  4. Књига и писмо су стигли јутрос.

    The book and the letter arrived this morning.

    Word by Word: Book and letter are arrived this-morning.

    Even with inanimate nouns (feminine књига + neuter писмо), mixed genders resolve to masculine plural -и.

  5. Из дворишта се чула песма и смех.

    Singing and laughter could be heard from the yard.

    Word by Word: From yard itself heard song and laughter.

    Because the predicate precedes the conjoined subject, it agrees directly with the closest conjunct (fem. sg. песма).

Common Mistakes

  • Using neuter plural agreement for mixed inanimate subjects.

    Књига и писмо су стигла јутрос.
    Књига и писмо су стигли јутрос.

    Unlike some languages where inanimate mixtures default to neuter, Serbian always uses the masculine plural (-и) as the default resolver for mixed genders, whether animate or inanimate.

  • Using 3rd person plural instead of 2nd person plural when 'ти' is joined with a noun.

    Ти и Никола раде заједно.
    Ти и Никола радите заједно.

    In the person hierarchy, 2nd person takes precedence over 3rd person. 'You and Nikola' equals 'you all' (ви), requiring 2nd person plural agreement (радите).

  • Treating a comitative 'са + инструментал' construction as a coordinated subject in formal writing.

    Отац са сином су дошли јуче.
    Отац са сином је дошао јуче.

    In standard grammar, 'са сином' is an adverbial modifier of accompaniment, not a grammatical subject head. The singular head 'отац' dictates a singular verb (је дошао). Plural agreement is only acceptable with conjunctions (Отац и син су дошли).

How It Connects

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Agreement With Coordinated SubjectsLevel 4

Learn This First

To learn predicate agreement with coordinated subjects, you must first know how subjects function in the nominative case, how conjunctions like 'и' link elements together, and how past participles reflect gender and number distinctions.