Увод у падеже
Overview
A case is a form of the noun and its adjective that shows their role in a sentence - subject, object, possession, address. Serbian has seven cases. This lesson only introduces the system - the seven names and the question each answers. Full declension tables come later, in an A2 lesson.
The seven cases
Every noun's ending changes with its case. See the seven cases and the questions they answer in the table below.
Each case is traditionally learned by the question it answers: ко?/шта? - nominative, кога?/шта? - accusative, and so on.
Nominative vs. accusative - the pair you need now
The nominative is the subject form and the dictionary form used in the noun-gender lessons.
The accusative marks the direct object - what the verb's action lands on. Feminine nouns ending in -а take the ending -у: кућа → кућу, жена → жену, књига → књигу.
Inanimate masculine and neuter nouns are the same in the singular - nominative and accusative share the same ending. Animate masculine nouns follow a different rule, covered later.
Special cases
The vocative is for direct address only. Many masculine names stay the same (Марко!), while most feminine nouns change: мама → Мамо!
Кога/шта имаш? takes the accusative, since имати always needs a direct object (see verb-imati-present-a1).
Tables
| Case | Question | Use |
|---|---|---|
| номинатив | ко? шта? | субјекат реченице |
| генитив | кога? чега? | припадање, „од“ |
| датив | коме? чему? | индиректни објекат, „ка“ |
| акузатив | кога? шта? | директни објекат |
| вокатив | - | директно обраћање |
| инструментал | (с) ким? чим? | средство, друштво |
| локатив | о коме? о чему? | место, тема (увек с предлогом) |
Examples
Compared with…
English lost case endings; word order and prepositions carry the role instead (the house stays the house as subject or object). Serbian marks the role on the noun itself, so word order is freer - the ending tells you who did what to whom.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Learn every new feminine -а noun with both its nominative and accusative forms together (кућа/кућу) - that single ending swap is the one rule that pays off immediately.
- Masculine and neuter nouns for things don't change between nominative and accusative singular - resist the urge to add an ending.
- Don't try to memorize the full seven-case paradigm yet; for now it's enough to recognize that Serbian marks grammatical role on the noun, and to handle nominative vs. accusative for feminine -а nouns.
- Only masculine nouns referring to people or animals change in the accusative singular, unlike inanimate ones - that distinction and its ending are introduced in a later lesson. Neuter nouns never change between nominative and accusative singular, animate or not: дете (child) stays дете.
- There is no single vocative rule at this stage: some nouns keep the nominative form unchanged (many masculine names), others change (мама → мамо, most feminine -а nouns) - full vocative endings are covered later.
- A handful of very common feminine nouns don't end in -а at all (see the consonant-feminine exceptions in noun-gender-a1) and decline differently again - not covered here.
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.