Definite and indefinite adjective forms

Until now you have met masculine adjectives in one form: novi telefon, stari kaput. But Serbian actually has two masculine forms in the nominative singular: a short one, nov, star, and a long one, novi, stari. They are not interchangeable. The choice does roughly the job that English does with a and the: nov auto is a new car, novi auto is the new car — the one we both know about.

The two forms

The short form is the dictionary form you look words up by: nov, star, skup, jeftin. The long form adds -i. An adjective with a fleeting a loses it in the long form, exactly as you learned: dobar → dobri, kratak → kratki, težak → teški, topao → topli.

Rule 1: after je, use the short form

When the adjective is the predicate — it comes after je, nije, bio je and tells you what the thing is like — use the short form.

• Moj telefon je nov. — My phone is new.
• Auto je star, ali je još dobar. — The car is old, but it is still good.
• Da li je ovaj kaput nov ili polovan? — Is this coat new or second-hand?

Rule 2: before the noun, choose by meaning

When the adjective comes in front of the noun (the attributive position), ask yourself: is this a thing we already know about, or just some thing of that kind?

• a new coat, some new coat, one of many → short: To je nov kaput. — That is a new coat.
• the new coat, the one we mean → long: Novi kaput je u ormanu. — The new coat is in the wardrobe.
• after ovaj, taj, onaj and after moj, tvoj, njegov… the thing is always a known one → long: ovaj stari sat, moj novi telefon.

In everyday speech many Serbs say the long form in front of a noun even for 'a': Kupio sam novi telefon is heard all the time. So before a noun the long form is never really wrong. The short form after je is the part to get right: Telefon je nov, not Telefon je novi (that means 'The phone is the new one').

The other cases: only long endings are alive

In the genitive, dative and locative you already use the long endings you learned: -og and -om. Keep using them. They are the definite forms, and in modern Serbian they cover both meanings, 'a' and 'the':

• Garancija novog telefona traje dve godine. — The guarantee on the new phone lasts two years.
• Taj kaput sam video u novom katalogu. — I saw that coat in the new catalogue.
• Prodavac je dao popust starom kupcu. — The salesman gave the old customer a discount.

Older short endings (nova, novu) still appear in old books, songs and fixed sayings. You only need to recognise them.

Words that have only one form

• Adjectives ending in -ski, -ški, -čki have only the long form: srpski, gradski.
• mali (small) is almost always said in the long form: Stan je mali.
• Comparatives and superlatives are always long (definite), even after je: Ovaj auto je skuplji, Taj model je najbolji.

Feminine and neuter adjectives look the same in both meanings in the nominative: nova torba, novo odelo. That is why only the masculine really shows the choice — watch the masculine after je.