Lesson 01.Noun Gender, Number, and the Nominative Case

Lesson Goals

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Identify the gender of a Serbian noun
• Form singular and plural nouns
• Use nouns correctly in the nominative case (the base dictionary form)
• Understand how gender affects adjectives and verbs

1. Noun Gender in Serbian

Serbian nouns have three genders:

1. Masculine – usually end in a consonant
• sto — table
• student — male student
2. Feminine – usually end in a
• knjiga — book
• učiteljica — female teacher
3. Neuter – usually end in o or e
• selo — village
• more — sea

Note: Gender affects adjective agreement, pronouns, and verb forms.

For full adjective agreement rules, see Lesson 4: Adjectives and Agreement.

2. Number: Singular and Plural

Masculine nouns:

• Add i for plural:
• student → studenti (students)

Feminine nouns:

• Replace a with e:
• knjiga → knjige (books)

Neuter nouns:

• Replace o or e with a:
• pismo → pisma (letters)
• more → mora (seas)

Some plural forms are irregular — see Lesson 10: Cases Overview for exceptions.

3. The Nominative Case

The nominative case is the default form of a noun — the one you find in a dictionary.

It is used mainly for:

• The subject of a sentence
• Predicate nouns after the verb biti (“to be”)

Examples:

• Student uči. — The student studies. (subject)
• Ona je učiteljica. — She is a teacher. (predicate noun)

4. Examples Table

5. Mini Dialogue (Grammar Focus)

Ana: Ko je on?

(Who is he?)

Marko: On je student.

(He is a student.)

Ana: A ko su oni?

(And who are they?)

Marko: Oni su studenti.

(They are students.)

6. Vocabulary for This Lesson

7. Practice

A. Change from singular to plural:

1. učitelj → _______
2. knjiga → _______
3. selo → _______

B. Make sentences in the nominative case:

4. He is a teacher.

5. They are students.

6. The sea is blue. (Tip: Use neuter adjective agreement.)