Genitive singular for possession, origin and prepositions
In short
Genitive singular
| Gender | Nominative | Genitive |
|---|---|---|
| masc. | doktor | doktora |
| fem. | glava | glave |
| neut. | srce | srca |
Used for: possession (thing first, owner second — torba doktora), origin (iz Srbije), and after od, iz, kod, do, bez.
Irregular neuters grow a syllable: dete → deteta.
The animate masculine accusative (Vidim doktora) is this same form.
A1 · Lesson 22 · The genitive singular: whose and from where
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
In English you say the doctor's bag or a glass of water, and of or 's does the work. Serbian has no of and no apostrophe-s. Instead the second noun — the owner, the source — changes its ending. That changed form is called the genitive.
Compare. Doktor is a doctor. Ovo je torba doktora. — This is the doctor's bag. The bag is torba, and it keeps its plain form because the sentence is about the bag. It is doktor that changes, to doktora, because he is the owner.
The three endings
There is one ending per gender, and each is easy to remember.
| Gender | Plain form | Genitive | Ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | doktor | doktora | add -a |
| masculine | zubar | zubara | add -a |
| masculine | zub | zuba | add -a |
| feminine | glava | glave | -a becomes -e |
| feminine | apoteka | apoteke | -a becomes -e |
| feminine | sestra | sestre | -a becomes -e |
| neuter | srce | srca | -e or -o becomes -a |
| neuter | koleno | kolena | -e or -o becomes -a |
| neuter | meso | mesa | -e or -o becomes -a |
| neuter | voće | voća | -e or -o becomes -a |
A small group of neuter nouns grows an extra syllable before the ending. The two you will meet most are dete → deteta (child) and ime → imena (name). The ending is still -a.
You have seen -a on a masculine noun before. In the lesson on animate masculine objects you learned Vidim doktora — I see the doctor. That -a is the genitive ending. An animate masculine noun simply borrows its genitive to serve as an accusative, so for that gender there is nothing new to learn here.
Whose: the owner comes second
Serbian puts the thing first and the owner second, the reverse of English word order: broj doktora — the doctor's number, literally "number of-doctor".
- Ovo je adresa bolnice. — This is the hospital's address. (feminine: bolnica → bolnice)
- Ime doktorke je Ana. — The doctor's name is Ana. (a female doctor: doktorka → doktorke)
- Ovo je slika srca. — This is a picture of the heart. (neuter: srce → srca)
After these five prepositions
Some prepositions always put the noun after them into the genitive. These five are the ones you need now.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| od | from, from a person | Dobijam lek od doktora. — I get the medicine from the doctor. |
| iz | out of, from a place or country | Ja sam iz Srbije. — I am from Serbia. |
| kod | at someone's place | Sada sam kod doktora. — I am at the doctor's now. |
| do | up to, as far as | Idem do apoteke. — I am going as far as the pharmacy. |
| bez | without | Pijem čaj bez šećera. — I drink tea without sugar. |
iz and od both translate as from, and learners mix them up. Use iz for coming out of a place — a country, a city, a building: iz Beograda, iz Nemačke, iz bolnice. Use od for getting something from a person, or for what something is made of: od sestre, čaj od limuna.
kod doktora means both at the doctor's and, with a verb of motion, to the doctor's: Idem kod doktora — I am going to the doctor. Serbian does not need two different words here.
One last useful pair: Odakle si? — Where are you from? You answer with iz plus the genitive.
Check what you read
6 of the 15 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Sutra idem kod(zubar).
Ovaj sirup je bez(šećer).
Ovo je recept ___.
Moj brat je iz ___.
Kada sam bolestan, pijem čaj od(limun).
Idem do ___.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Ovo je slika srca.
This is a picture of the heart.
Sestra meri pritisak pacijenta.
The nurse measures the patient's blood pressure.
Pijem kafu bez mleka.
I drink coffee without milk.
Ime doktorke je Ana.
The doctor's name is Ana.
Ovo je adresa bolnice.
This is the hospital's address.
Ćerka doktorke je bolesna.
The doctor's daughter is sick.
Ovo je torba doktora.
This is the doctor's bag.
Pijem čaj bez šećera.
I drink tea without sugar.
Grlo deteta je crveno.
The child's throat is red.
Ime deteta je Marko.
The child's name is Marko.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 48
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
This is a picture of the heart.