Одређени и неодређени вид придева
Overview
Serbian adjectives have gender, number and case (see the lesson on adjective declension) plus a definiteness distinction inherited from Common Slavic: an indefinite and a definite form. In writing, the choice shows clearly in one place - the masculine singular, in the nominative and in the accusative of an inanimate noun, which looks the same - plus a fading trace in the masculine/neuter genitive and dative singular. Everywhere else the two forms are spelled alike and differ only in the length of the ending's vowel, which careful standard pronunciation keeps but spelling does not show.
The basic adjectives lesson taught нов as one word, and the adjective declension lesson's case table already used the definite endings throughout (новог, новом, новим) without naming the choice. This lesson names it explicitly and gives the rule for each form.
Where the contrast survives: masculine nominative/accusative and short genitive/dative
The clearest pair is the masculine nominative singular: indefinite нов has no ending, definite нови adds -и. The accusative of an inanimate masculine noun looks exactly like the nominative, so the same pair appears there: Купио сам нов ауто. / Купио сам нови ауто. Most descriptive adjectives work this way, including the fleeting-a ones from the basic adjectives lesson - indefinite добар, definite добри; the classes that have only one of the two forms are listed with the always-definite categories. This is the standard language's choice: everyday speech often puts the long form in the indefinite slot too (Купио сам нови ауто. about any new car), so treat the short form as the careful, standard one rather than the only one you will hear.
Genitive and dative/locative singular (masc./neut.) also have a historic short indefinite form - genitive нова, dative/locative нову - beside the definite long forms the adjective declension lesson already gave as default, новог(а) and новом(е). In modern spoken Serbian the long forms have largely spread into these cells even when the meaning is indefinite, so treat the short pair as something to recognize in reading, not something to actively produce. It lives on mostly in set descriptive phrases such as човек добра срца - a good-hearted man, in everyday speech човек доброг срца.
Usage: short for a predicate or a first mention, long for a known referent
The core rule: an adjective in predicate position - after је/су, describing the subject - normally takes the indefinite short form as the neutral standard model: Стан је нов. (Colloquial speech also lets the long form in there, usually with a marked, contextual shade - this particular, known one - but the short form is the default to write and say.) (An adjective that has only a long form, like мали or a comparative, keeps it there too: Стан је мали.) An attributive adjective naming a specific, already-known referent takes the definite long form: нови стан у који смо се уселили names one particular apartment, not any new apartment.
An attributive adjective that introduces something as one instance of its kind, not a known referent, stays indefinite: Купио сам нов ауто. (some new car, first mention) versus Купио сам нови ауто о коме смо причали. (the specific car already discussed).
Always-definite categories and fossilized short forms
Some adjective-like words are always definite in form regardless of context: comparatives and superlatives (бољи, лепши; највећи, најлепши - see the lesson on comparing adjectives), ordinal numbers (први, други, трећи - see the lesson on ordinal numbers), and, in practice, any adjective after a demonstrative or possessive (овај нови сто, мој нови телефон) - the demonstrative or possessive already particularizes the noun, so the adjective agrees and takes the long form too.
A handful of indefinite short forms have frozen into fixed phrases and greetings, immune to the rule above: Добар дан!, Срећан пут!, Срећан рођендан! These are memorized as whole phrases, not built from the usage rule.
Whole word classes have only one of the two forms, whatever the context. Adjectives in -ски, -чки, -шки (српски, градски, уметнички), adjectives in -њи, -шњи (горњи, данашњи) and a few others such as главни exist only in the long form - there is no short *српск. Possessive adjectives in -ов, -ев, -ин (очев, Петров, мамин) go the other way: they keep the short form, so it is мамин стан even when everyone knows which apartment is meant.
Tables
| Case | Indefinite (short) | Definite (long) |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (masculine) | нов | нови |
| genitive | нова | новог(а) |
| dative/locative | нову | новом(е) |
| accusative (masculine, inanimate) | нов | нови |
Examples
Compared with…
English marks (in)definiteness on the noun phrase with articles - a new car vs. the new car - never on the adjective itself, and has no morphological definite/indefinite adjective forms at all. The a/the split is nonetheless the closest conceptual handle: indefinite нов tends to answer to „a new…“, definite нови to „the new…“, even though Serbian has no articles and encodes the distinction on the adjective's own ending instead.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Listen first to the masculine singular ending - in the nominative and in the inanimate accusative, which looks the same: no ending means indefinite, -и means definite. This is where the choice is still clearly alive and meaning-bearing, at least in the standard language; everyday speech often uses the long form for both.
- If a demonstrative, possessive, superlative or ordinal is already doing the work of pointing at a specific thing, default the adjective after it to the definite long form.
- In the masculine/neuter genitive and dative, modern spoken Serbian mostly uses the long ending (новог, новом) regardless of meaning - recognize the short нова/нову in reading, but don't feel obliged to produce it yourself.
- Fossilized indefinite short forms survive frozen inside set phrases and greetings no matter what the usage rule above would predict: „Добар дан!“, „Срећан пут!“, „Срећан рођендан!“
- A handful of common adjectives, such as мали (already flagged in the basic adjectives lesson), are normally used only in the long/definite form in everyday speech - the short indefinite counterpart barely occurs at all. Whole classes have no short form in any register: comparatives (бољи), adjectives in -ски/-чки/-шки (српски) and in -њи/-шњи (данашњи), and a few others like главни. Possessives in -ов/-ев/-ин (очев, мамин) are the reverse - they have only the short form.
- The feminine, the neuter nominative/accusative and the whole plural show no contrast in writing: definite and indefinite нова, ново, нове are spelled alike and differ only in the length of the ending's vowel, which careful standard pronunciation keeps but spelling does not show. So the choice you can actually see is a masculine one - which is why this lesson's examples use masculine nouns.