сви / све / сва
Everyone and Everything in a Group
Use сви (masculine / mixed), све (feminine), and сва (neuter) to mean "all" with plural nouns, or standalone to mean "everyone" / "all of them".
How It Works
In Serbian, сви / све / сва act either as determiners (modifying a noun) or as standalone pronouns.
1. Determiner Position
When modifying a noun phrase, they typically appear at the very beginning (left periphery), preceding possessive pronouns and descriptive adjectives: сви моји добри пријатељи ("all my good friends").
2. Important Plural Case Forms
When modifying plural nouns or referring to plural groups, these words decline through cases in the plural:
- Nominative: сви (m), све (f), сва (n)
- Genitive: свих (all genders)
- Dative / Locative / Instrumental: свима (or short form свим, all genders)
- Accusative: све (m), све (f), сва (n)
Crucial note on masculine accusative plural: Unlike the singular masculine where animate objects require genitive endings (animate and inanimate masculine objects), the masculine plural accusative does not use an animate distinction—it is invariantly све (e.g., Познајем све студенте, NOT *свих студенте).
3. Standalone Meaning: "Everyone" vs. "Everything"
Used alone without a noun:
- Сви = "everyone / everybody" (plural verb: Сви знају). It declines using the plural forms above (e.g., Хвала свима).
- Све = either "all of them [females]" (plural verb: Све су стигле) OR neuter singular "everything" (singular verb: Све је добро). Note that when све means the singular "everything", it follows singular pronominal declension (Genitive: свега, Dative / Locative: свему, Instrumental: свим; e.g., Сећам се свега).
Examples (5)
- Сви студенти су успешно положили испит.
All the students successfully passed the exam.
Word by Word: All students are successfully passed exam.
Uses masculine plural 'сви' to agree with 'студенти' and takes a plural auxiliary 'су'.
- Да ли су сви дошли на састанак?
Has everyone arrived at the meeting?
Word by Word: Whether are all arrived at meeting?
Standalone 'сви' translates English 'everyone', but obligatorily governs a plural verb ('су дошли').
- Сва деца у овој школи уче енглески језик.
All the children in this school learn English.
Word by Word: All children in this school learn English language.
The collective noun 'деца' triggers neuter plural quantifier agreement ('сва').
- Познајем све нове комшије у згради.
I know all the new neighbors in the building.
Word by Word: I-know all new neighbors in building.
Illustrates the masculine accusative plural form 'све' (not 'свих') modifying an animate direct object.
- Прочитала сам све књиге са списка.
I have read all the books from the list.
Word by Word: Read am all books from list.
Feminine accusative plural 'све' agreeing with feminine noun 'књиге'.
Common Mistakes
Using a singular verb with 'сви' by copying English 'everyone is'.
Сви је овде.Сви су овде.English treats 'everyone' as syntactically singular, but Serbian 'сви' is inherently plural and requires the plural auxiliary 'су'.
Using masculine plural 'сви' instead of neuter plural 'сва' with collective nouns like 'деца'.
Сви деца спавају.Сва деца спавају.The noun 'деца' (children) takes neuter plural agreement with adjectives and determiners, requiring 'сва'.
Using the genitive form 'свих' for an animate masculine plural direct object.
Позвао сам свих пријатеље.Позвао сам све пријатеље.Masculine animate nouns drop genitive-accusative syncretism in the plural; the accusative modifier form is strictly 'све'.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To use 'сви', 'све', and 'сва', you need to understand grammatical gender and plural forms in the nominative, as well as how qualifying words agree with nouns in gender and number.
Related Patterns
- сваки / неки / другиEach Some and Another
While 'сви' refers collectively to an entire group with a plural verb, 'сваки' focuses distributively on each individual member and takes a singular verb.
Level 2 - деца / људиFrequent Irregular Plurals
Helps you choose the right gender agreement: 'људи' takes masculine plural 'сви', while collective 'деца' takes neuter plural 'сва'.
Level 2 - Plural Direct Objects
Governs the forms 'све' (masculine and feminine) and 'сва' (neuter) when quantifying plural direct objects.
Level 2 - -и / -е / -аCommon Noun Plurals
Provides the noun plural endings that match the gender forms of 'сви' (-и), 'све' (-е), and 'сва' (-а).
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice сви / све / сва in Bubblegum
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