Adjective-forming suffixes
In short
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ski | origin, nationality | grad → gradski, Srbin → srpski, Nemac → nemački |
| -ni | material, time, purpose (long form only) | zlato → zlatni, noć → noćni, ruka → ručni |
| -ljiv | tends to / can be done | štedeti → štedljiv, čitati → čitljiv |
| -iv | inclined to / fit to be | sumnja → sumnjiv, jesti → jestiv |
| -an | a quality; fleeting a | korist → koristan, korisna |
| -ast | shape, pattern, -ish | pruga → prugast, plav → plavkast |
-ni only classifies: long form only, even after je (Jakna je kožna.); -an describes (koristan / korisni).
B2 · Lesson 36 · Tvorba prideva: -ski, -ni, -ljiv, -iv
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
Serbian makes a huge number of adjectives by gluing an ending onto a noun or a verb you already know. grad (city) gives gradski (city, urban); čitati (to read) gives čitljiv (legible). Each ending carries a fairly regular meaning, so once you know the six endings below you can understand adjectives you have never seen — and make your own. Linguists call this derivation, and the endings suffixes.
Six endings and what they mean
| Ending | Added to | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ski | places, peoples, institutions | of, from, belonging to — origin and nationality | Srbija → srpski, grad → gradski, selo → seoski, Beograd → beogradski |
| -ni | materials, times, things | made of, happening at, used for | zlato → zlatni, koža → kožni, noć → noćni, ruka → ručni |
| -ljiv | mostly verbs | tends to do it / can be done | štedeti → štedljiv, čitati → čitljiv, razumeti → razumljiv, plašiti se → plašljiv |
| -iv | verbs and some nouns | inclined to / fit to be | sumnja → sumnjiv, jesti → jestiv, brbljati → brbljiv |
| -an | abstract nouns | having that quality | korist → koristan, sreća → srećan, glas → glasan, pamet → pametan |
| -ast | concrete nouns, colours | shaped like, patterned with, -ish | pruga → prugast, kocka → kockast, talas → talasast, plav → plavkast |
The new adjective is an ordinary adjective: it agrees with its noun like any other. Šetali smo beogradskim ulicama. Kupila je kožnu jaknu. Moja sestra je štedljiva. Objašnjenje je bilo razumljivo. Ove pečurke su jestive. Haljina je prugasta, a kosa talasasta. Deca su bila glasna.
-ski: where something or someone comes from
-ski is the ending of nationality, language and origin: srpski, nemački, engleski, francuski, beogradski, seoski, gradski. The same word names the language: Govorim srpski. Unlike English, these adjectives are written with a small letter.
- Before s, the b turns into p (voicing assimilation): Srbin → srpski.
- A final -k or -c turns into č: Nemac → nemački, Grk → grčki.
- Country endings such as -ska, -ija often drop: Francuska → francuski, Engleska → engleski.
- Fleeting a disappears as usual: Kragujevac → kragujevački. And an l that ends up before the suffix turns into o: selo → sel-ski → seoski.
-ni and -an: one ending in disguise
An -an adjective loses its a in every form except the masculine short form — the fleeting a you already know. So koristan (useful) becomes korisna, korisno, korisni, and the long form korisni looks exactly like a -ni adjective. The difference is in what the word does.
| -an (a quality) | -ni (a category) | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | koristan savet / korisni savet | zlatni prsten |
| feminine | korisna knjiga | zlatna narukvica |
| neuter | korisno pitanje | zlatno pravilo |
| after je | Savet je koristan. (short form) | Jakna je kožna. (long form only) |
An -an adjective describes a quality something has, so it has both a short and a long form, and after je it takes the short form: Dan je bio srećan. A -ni adjective only sorts things into a kind — what they are made of (kožna jakna, papirna kesa), when they happen (noćni voz), what they are for (ručni sat) — so it has only the long form. It usually stands in front of its noun, and when it does follow je, it keeps that long form: Jakna je kožna. Ovaj voz je noćni. Before -ni, k and c turn into č: ruka → ručni, porodica → porodični.
If you can ask "how much?" about it (how useful, how happy, how loud), it is an -an adjective, with a short masculine form: koristan, srećan, glasan. If it only answers "what kind?" (gold, night, leather), it is a -ni adjective: always use the long form. Imam zlatni prsten. — not zlatan prsten for a ring made of gold.
-ljiv and -iv: what someone tends to do, what can be done
Both attach mostly to verbs. About a person they mean a habit: štedljiv (thrifty, from štedeti), plašljiv (timid, from plašiti se), brbljiv (chatty, from brbljati), sumnjiv (suspicious, from sumnja). About a thing they mean that it can be done to it: čitljiv (legible), razumljiv (understandable), jestiv (edible).
Which verb takes -ljiv and which takes -iv cannot be predicted — learn each adjective as a word. The meaning family is the same, so you will still understand a new one on sight.
-ast: shape, pattern, resemblance
-ast says what something looks like: prugast (striped), kockast (checked, cube-shaped), talasast (wavy). Added to a colour as -kast it means "-ish": plavkast (bluish), zelenkast (greenish).
Materials also use a seventh ending you will keep meeting, -en: drveni sto, stakleni sto, vunena jakna. It behaves like -ni — long form only.
Check what you read
5 of the 18 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Više volim ___ život, mirniji je od gradskog.
Why is the adjective from *Srbin* spelled *srpski* and not *srbski*?
Celo popodne smo šetali ___ ulicama, od Kalemegdana do Slavije.
Ovo je bila veoma(koristan) knjiga.
Deca su sinoć bila previše(glasan).
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Tvoj rukopis nije baš čitljiv.
Your handwriting isn't exactly legible.
Komšije su sinoć bile previše glasne.
The neighbours were far too loud last night.
Na venčanju je nosila prugastu haljinu.
At the wedding she wore a striped dress.
Više volim seoski život nego gradski.
I prefer village life to city life.
Uzeli smo noćni voz za Bar.
We took the night train to Bar.
To je bio veoma koristan savet.
That was very useful advice.
Ovo je moj prvi ručni sat.
This is my first wristwatch.
Kožna jakna je skupa, ali traje godinama.
A leather jacket is expensive, but it lasts for years.
Njegovo objašnjenje je bilo kratko i razumljivo.
His explanation was short and understandable.
More je danas plavkasto, a nebo sivo.
The sea is bluish today, and the sky grey.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 21
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
The sea is bluish today, and the sky grey.