Lične zamenice
Overview
Subject pronouns are ја, ти, он/она/оно, ми, ви and они/оне/она.
Because the verb ending - and, with бити, the enclitic itself - already shows who is acting, Serbian often drops the subject pronoun: Читам. (I read / I'm reading) is complete on its own, no ја needed. Pronouns are then used mainly for clarity, contrast, or emphasis; the next lesson covers verb endings in detail.
Third person: pronouns follow grammatical gender
Он/она/оно aren't reserved for people - they replace any noun of that gender, including objects: сто (masculine) is он, кућа (feminine) is она, село (neuter) is оно. The ending predicts the gender; see the noun-gender lesson.
The plural splits the same way: они for masculine, оне for feminine, она for neuter referents. A mixed-gender or unknown-gender group of people defaults to the masculine они.
Addressing people: ти, Ви, ви
Ти is informal, for one person you know well - family, friends, peers. Ви is formal - for one person you don't know well, an elder, or a superior - and always takes plural verb agreement even though it means one person: „Ви сте нови колега.“
The same ви also addresses more than one person, formal or informal - the context tells which. In writing, a capital Ви is a courtesy towards a single addressee, usual in letters, messages and forms; a lowercase ви to one person is not a mistake and is common in ordinary text. In speech the two sound the same.
What this lesson does not cover
Only the subject (nominative) form is introduced here - „ја, ти, он…“. Object forms („мене, тебе, њега…“) arrive with the case lessons.
Possessive forms ("my, your, his…") and demonstrative pronouns ("this, that…") each have their own A1 lesson - one on possessive pronouns, one on demonstrative pronouns.
Tables
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | ja | mi |
| 2. | ti | vi |
| 3. | on / ona / ono | oni / one / ona |
Examples
Compared with…
English you covers ти/Ви/ви at once, with no formality or number distinction, and English they covers every gender. Serbian encodes both distinctions that English collapses into one word, so an English speaker must consciously choose the right form.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- When a group mixes genders (or you don't know everyone's gender), Serbian defaults to the masculine plural они - the same convention as many other gendered languages.
- The polite ви to one person takes the plural verb (Ви сте); in letters and messages it is often written with a capital as a courtesy, and the context tells one addressee from several.
- Don't feel obliged to translate every English I/you/he… literally - dropping the pronoun is the normal, natural choice once the verb ending makes the subject clear.
- The Ви/ви distinction exists only in writing - spoken Serbian pronounces them identically, and context tells listeners which is meant.
- Groups of mixed or unknown gender default to the masculine plural они, even if most members are female - a small but frequent exception to strict gender-matching.