To err is human, and no one’s immune to the occasional slip-up, no matter how hard they try. But here’s the great news for language learners: mistakes aren’t just inevitable — they’re invaluable! And that’s why we’re about to spill the beans on the typical mistakes foreigners make in Serbian. Of course, we’ll also show you how to fix them.
Ready to err? Let’s go!
From Slip-Ups to Success: Mistakes Foreigners Make in Serbian
Language slip-ups can feel awkward, but don’t let them bring you down. After all, mistakes are a natural, even essential, part of learning a foreign language. Besides, native speakers make their share of blunders themselves.
Also, mistakes don’t mean that you’ve learned nothing. In fact, they’re a sign that you’re practicing and doing your best to speak a new language!
Plus, many grammar mistakes result not from ignorance but from applying rules you’ve already learned. However, since Serbian has exceptions and irregularities galore, those rules sometimes need a bit of tweaking.
With that cleared up, let’s dive into the typical mistakes foreigners make in Serbian and see how to fix them!
1. Nationality
One of the first things you learn in Serbian is to describe your nationality. Therefore, it’s also one of the first stumbling blocks you may come across. First, check out this pair of sentences:
✘ Ja sam japanski.
✔Ja sam Japanac.
(I’m Japanese.)
So, what’s the confusion? In English, you use the same adjective to describe the language, nationality, or things belonging to a country (Japanese, Serbian, Italian, etc).
In contrast, you need to use nouns to describe nationalities in Serbian. So, a person from Japan is Japanac/Japanka and speaks japanski. Similarly, Italijan/Italijanka speaks italijanski.
But that’s not all. Interestingly, saying that you are a Serbian woman is also a tad tricky.
✘ Ja sam Srpskinja.
✔Ja sam Srpkinja.
So, remember: the language is srpski, but people are Srbin or Srpkinja.
2. Prepositions and Days of Week
When deciding what day you’ll see a friend in English, what preposition do you use? Of course, it’s on (on Saturday, on Monday). What about Serbian? Is it na (on)?
✘ Vidimo se na subotu.
✔ Vidimo se u subotu.
Yes, days of the week require the preposition u (in). This rule may sound counterintuitive to English speakers, but it’s just a quirk of the Serbian language that you need to get used to.
If you’d like to learn more about the prepositions u and na, check out this article.
3. Formal Language
Although Serbs like to keep things casual, some situations call for formal speech. In such cases, you should use Vi instead of ti as a sign of respect. Since Vi is singular in meaning but plural in form, it can create confusion.
✘ Vi ste lepa.
✔ Vi ste lepi.
(You are beautiful. [singular, polite])
As you can see, you should use adjectives in the plural when speaking politely, even if you’re talking about one person. Weird, right?
4. Imperfective Verbs
Long story short, there are two verbal aspects in the Serbian language — perfective and imperfective. Take, for instance, the verb to cook — kuvati:
- imperfective: kuvati (to be cooking)
- perfective: skuvati (to finish cooking)
Thanks to these verbal aspects, Serbs use only three tenses most of the time. Convenient, right?
On the other hand, some imperfective verbs can get a tad tricky.
✘ Ja vezivam pertle.
✔ Ja vezujem pertle.
(I’m tying my shoelaces.)
Since the verb kuvati is kuvam in its present form (1st person singular), you may follow the same logic and say vezivam instead of vezujem.
For your reference, here are other verbs that typically cause confusion:
- putovati (to travel) – ✘ putovam ✔ putujem
- kupovati (to buy) – ✘ kupovam ✔ kupujem
- prodavati (to sell) – ✘ prodavam ✔ prodajem
5. The Verb Hteti
The verb hteti (to want) is handy but often trips learners up. Let’s see how!
✘ Ja hoćem da jedem sladoled.
✔ Ja hoću da jedem sladoled.
(I want to eat an ice cream.)
As it happens, saying that you don’t want something is even trickier, and there are two different mistakes learners often make:
✘ Ja nećem da jedem sladoled.
✘ Ja ne hoćem da jedem sladoled.
✔ Ja neću da jedem sladoled.
(I don’t want to eat ice cream.)
Interestingly, Serbian children often make these kinds of mistakes, so if you’re slipping up, it just means you’re learning in a logical way. Just remember the forms hoću and neću, and you’ll be well on your way!
6. Future Tense Word Order
In short, you build the future tense this way: ću, češ, će, ćemo, ćete, će + verb. It looks like a no-brainer, but the word order can be a bit of a puzzle.
✘ Mi ići ćemo na festival.
✔ Mi ćemo ići na festival.
✔ Ići ćemo na festival.
(We’ll go to a festival.)
The helping verb tends to take the second place in the sentence. So, if you start with a subject, the helping verb comes before the main verb (ćemo ići). But, if you omit the subject, the helping verb follows the main verb (ići ćemo).
Then, if you turn this sentence into a question, how will you position the helping verb?
✘ Kada ići ćemo na festival?
✔ Kada ćemo ići na festival.
(When will we go to a festival?)
Yup, it’s in front of the main verb, right after the question word.
7. Past Tense
Similarly, the past tense can be a real head-scratcher. Specifically, these verbs give foreigners a hard time: jesti (to eat) and nemati (not to have).
✘ Jedeo sam pomorandže.
✔ Jeo sam pomorandže.
(I was eating oranges.)
Yes, the present tense of jesti is jedem, so naturally, you’d think that the past tense is jedeo. But this verb is a bit unruly, so it’s best to remember it as it is.
Next, nemati is the antonym of the verb imati (to have). So, many learners try to follow the same logic and — make a mistake.
✔ Imao sam puno prijatelja.
(I had many friends.)
✘ Nemao sam puno prijatelja.
✔ Nisam imao puno prijatelja.
(I didn’t have many friends.)
8. Prepositions and Cases
Many learners would agree that Serbian cases deserve a special place in hell. In particular, there’s a never-ending confusion surrounding accusative and locative.
✘ Ja sam u školu. [accusative]
✔ Ja sam u školi. [locative]
(I’m at school.)
So, when describing a location, you’ll use the preposition u (in) or na (on) and the locative case.
On the other hand, if you’re talking about movement, you’ll use a verb of motion, a preposition, and the accusative:
✔ Ja idem u školu. [accusative]
(I’m going to school.)
9. Ako vs Da Li
Once you learn that ako means if, you may want to use it for indirect speech, like in English. But, although we use ako in conditional sentences, indirect speech requires da li.
✘ Pitala sam ga ako je gladan.
✔ Pitala sam ga da li je gladan.
(I asked him if he was hungry.)
And the same goes for embedded questions:
✘ Ne znam ako pada kiša.
✔ Ne znam da li pada kiša.
Mistakes Foreigners Make in Serbian: Time to Turn Blunders into Breakthroughs
Can you relate to these mistakes foreigners make in Serbian? No worries if you do — language learners mess up all the time, and that’s exactly how they grow. Remember, it’s about progress, not perfection. So, embrace your mistakes and, most importantly, learn from them!
Finally, we’ve also covered this topic in our Instagram post. Don’t forget to check it out and follow us for tons of helpful content on learning Serbian!