By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
Serbian is a case language — nouns, pronouns, and adjectives change their form (ending) depending on their grammatical role in the sentence.
The base form in the dictionary is Nominative singular.
| Case | Serbian Name | Main Question(s) | Core Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Nominative | Nominativ | ko? šta? (who? what?) | Subject of the sentence |
| 2. Genitive | Genitiv | koga? čega? (of whom? of what?) | Possession, quantity, absence |
| 3. Dative | Dativ | kome? čemu? (to whom? to what?) | Indirect object, giving/receiving |
| 4. Accusative | Akuzativ | koga? šta? (whom? what?) | Direct object, movement towards |
| 5. Vocative | Vokativ | — | Addressing someone/something |
| 6. Instrumental | Instrumental | s kim? s čim? (with whom? with what?) | Means, accompaniment |
| 7. Locative | Lokativ | o kome? o čemu? (about whom? about what?) | Location, topics (always with prepositions) |