Locative singular after u and na
In short
Locative singular — only after u or na.
| Gender | Nominative | Locative |
|---|---|---|
| masc | grad | gradu |
| fem | škola | školi |
| neut | selo | selu |
u = inside (u gradu, u školi, u restoranu) · na = open surface (na trgu, na stanici, na poslu).
-ka → -ci: banka → u banci.
A1 · Lesson 26 · Where things are: the locative
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
You already know how to name a place: grad — a city, škola — a school, selo — a village. Now you want to say that somebody is there. English does this with a preposition alone: in the city. Serbian uses a preposition and changes the end of the noun.
- Ovo je grad. → Marko je u grad*u.* — Marko is in the city.
- Ovo je škola. → Ana je u škol*i.* — Ana is at school.
- Ovo je selo. → Kuća je u sel*u.* — The house is in the village.
That changed ending is called the locative. It is the form a noun takes when it says where.
The endings
There are only two endings to learn, and one of them does double duty: masculine and neuter nouns both take -u, feminine nouns take -i.
| Gender | Nominative | Locative | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | grad | gradu | Marko je u gradu. |
| feminine | škola | školi | Ana je u školi. |
| neuter | selo | selu | Kuća je u selu. |
A masculine noun normally adds -u to its nominative: park → parku, muzej → muzeju, restoran → restoranu. A neuter noun drops its -o or -e and puts -u in its place: selo → selu, pozorište → pozorištu, more → moru. A feminine noun drops its -a and puts -i in its place: škola → školi, stanica → stanici, bolnica → bolnici.
A few masculine nouns lose a vowel before the ending is added: posao → na poslu, ugao → na uglu, centar → u centru. Learn those together with the word.
The locative never stands on its own. Unlike the other forms you have met, it appears only after a preposition — here, after u or na. If there is no preposition, there is no locative.
u or na?
Both mean roughly in or at. Use u for a place you go inside: a building, a room, a town. Use na for a flat or open place, and for the surface of something.
| u — inside something | na — on an open place |
|---|---|
| u gradu — in the city | na trgu — in the square |
| u školi — at school | na stanici — at the station |
| u banci — at the bank | na ulici — in the street |
| u prodavnici — in the shop | na poslu — at work |
| u restoranu — in the restaurant | na fakultetu — at university |
| u kafiću — in the café | na aerodromu — at the airport |
| u muzeju — in the museum | na moru — at the seaside |
| u bolnici — in hospital | na jezeru — at the lake |
The choice is only half logical. Na stanici and na pošti are hardly open spaces, and Serbians still say na. Learn the preposition together with the place, the way you learn a noun's gender.
One spelling trap: a feminine noun ending in -ka turns that k into c before the locative -i: banka → u banci, apoteka → u apoteci, biblioteka → u biblioteci. A noun in -ga changes in the same place, but to z: knjiga → u knjizi. A noun in -ha — there are very few — changes it to s.
Everything here is about being somewhere, not going somewhere. Ja sam u školi — I am at school. Movement uses a different form, and that is the next lesson.
Check what you read
6 of the 16 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Moja sestra je u(škola).
Deca su u(park).
Moji roditelji žive u(selo).
Ana je u ___.
Marko nas čeka na ___.
Kuća je u ___.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Oni su na jezeru.
They are at the lake.
Večeras smo u pozorištu.
Tonight we are at the theatre.
Vidimo se na stanici.
See you at the station.
Ana je u školi.
Ana is at school.
Kupujem knjigu u knjižari.
I am buying a book at the bookshop.
Čekam te na ulici.
I am waiting for you in the street.
Kuća je u selu.
The house is in the village.
Marko je u gradu.
Marko is in the city.
Utakmica je večeras na stadionu.
The match is at the stadium tonight.
Moja ćerka uči u biblioteci.
My daughter is studying at the library.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 87
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
They are at the lake.