Osnovni predlozi
Overview
A Serbian preposition never changes itself, but it forces a specific ending onto the noun that follows - the same case-agreement idea from cases-introduction-a1, now applied to a set of everyday prepositions. This lesson catalogs the highest-frequency ones as ready-to-use chunks, each paired with the ending pattern it takes and reusing patterns already familiar from days-months-a1 and numbers-a1; full declension tables come later.
У and на - location versus motion
Both у (in/at) and на (on/at) have two different endings depending on the question they answer. For location (где? - where?), masculine and neuter nouns take a fixed -у ending, the same pattern days-months-a1 used for months: у Београду (in Belgrade), на столу (on the table). Feminine -а nouns take -и instead: кућа → у кући (at home).
For motion toward a destination (куда? - to where?), the noun instead takes the accusative pattern from cases-introduction-a1: masculine and neuter nouns stay unchanged, feminine -а nouns become -у. Идем у Београд. (I'm going to Belgrade) leaves Београд unchanged; Идем на плажу. (I'm going to the beach) changes плажа to плажу.
Из, од, до - the from family
Из (out of/from), од (from/since) and до (to/until) all take the same genitive-shaped ending numbers-a1 already introduced as the 5+ count form: masculine/neuter сто → стола-type ending, feminine -а → -е.
Долазим из Београда. (I'm coming from Belgrade), Идем од куће до школе. (I'm going from home to school) - Београда, куће and школе are all genitive-shaped, not nominative.
Special cases
Са (with) takes yet another ending, -ом, on the noun that follows: путујем са сестром (I'm traveling with my sister). The short variant с is used before most words, but са replaces it before words starting with с/з/ш/ж/ц/ч (to avoid an awkward consonant cluster) and always before the pronoun мном (me): са мном, never с мном.
За, in the sense of for - direction or purpose - reuses the accusative pattern from the motion section above; за has other senses with a different case pattern, covered in a later lesson. О (about) reuses the same location endings as у - -у for masculine/neuter, -и for feminine -а nouns: причамо о Београду (we're talking about Belgrade) looks exactly like живим у Београду (I live in Belgrade).
Tables
| Preposition | Location (gde?) | Direction (kuda?) |
|---|---|---|
| u + Beograd | u Beogradu | u Beograd |
| na + sto | na stolu | na sto |
| u + kuća | u kući | u kuću |
Examples
Compared with…
English prepositions never change the noun that follows at all: in Belgrade and to Belgrade both leave Belgrade untouched. The meanings (in/to/from/with/about) map onto familiar English prepositions, but the idea that a Serbian preposition forces a specific noun ending is new.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- The preposition itself never changes - only the noun after it does, and it reuses endings you already know from numbers-a1, days-months-a1 and cases-introduction-a1.
- Ask yourself где? (location) or куда? (motion) for у/на: location takes -у for masculine/neuter nouns and -и for feminine -а nouns, motion always takes the accusative pattern.
- Са is always safe to use before any word if you're unsure whether с or са is correct - it's never wrong, just slightly more formal-sounding before an easy consonant.
- Masculine place names have identical nominative and (inanimate) accusative forms, so motion into looks unchanged - don't confuse that with the locative form, which always adds -у (feminine -а nouns take -и instead).
- Feminine -а genitive singular and the 2–4 count-form/nominative-plural endings are spelled identically as -е (already flagged in numbers-a1); од куће is genitive, not a plural.
- A few fixed idiomatic phrases, like од срца (from the heart, meaning sincerely), keep the case pattern but are best learned as one whole chunk rather than built up rule by rule.
- За has more than one case pattern: the for/direction sense taught here takes the accusative, but other senses - like a static position, behind or at - take a different case not covered in this lesson. Treat за + accusative as one specific chunk, not a universal rule for every use of за.
Summary
Opens Focus mode: one exercise at a time, with explanations — either script accepted.
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This lesson is the unit's first step. The grammar, the words and the first guided lesson are open to everyone; the rest of the unit's lessons and its text, dialogue and tasks come with Premium.