Your task
Monday, February 1 · Lipa Street 12, Vračar
Your task
You've lived in Belgrade for three months now. Jelena is back after ten days in Niš: she rings your doorbell with a bag from the bakery and takes you to Ugao to catch up. Your goal: answer Šta ima novo? (what's new?), talk about your normal week in Serbian, and find out where your A1 Serbian stands with a 14-question check.
By the end you can
Catch up with a friend, talk about your normal week in the present tense, and know which A1 topics you should review before Lesson 2.
Guess first: is Ništa posebno (nothing special) a rude answer to Šta ima novo?
Not at all. It's a perfectly friendly answer, and nobody expects a long story. This lesson shows you what else people say, and what comes after.
The scene
Two moments on Monday morning. Read them on your own first, and open the translations only if you need them. Your own lines aren't in the text, only what the others say.
9:00 a.m. Someone rings your doorbell.
- Jelena:Iznenađenje! Evo me, opet u Beogradu!
- Jelena:Ovo je za tebe: burek sa sirom, pravo iz Niša. Iz najbolje pekare na svetu!
- Jelena:Znam, znam, burek za doručak nije zdrav. Ali ovaj je poseban!
- Jelena:Hvala ti za Mrvicu! Gde je ona? A, evo je, spava na tvom krevetu.
- Jelena:Ajde, idemo u Ugao na kafu?
9:30 a.m. Café Ugao, on the corner of your street.
- Maja:Jelena! Gde si ti? Nema te deset dana!
- Jelena:Bila sam kod mame, u Nišu. Bilo je lepo, ali sad sam opet tu!
- Maja:A kako je mama?
- Jelena:Dobro je. Kuva po ceo dan i stalno pita kad opet dolazim.
- Maja:A Niš? Je l' hladno tamo?
- Jelena:Jao, jako hladno. Tamo pada sneg, a ovde duva košava. Ne znam šta je gore!
- Maja:Kao i obično? Kapućino?
- Jelena:Kao i obično. Veliki, molim te!
- Maja:A Vi? Šta ima novo kod Vas?
- Jelena:Ništa posebno? Ma, nije tačno! Radiš, učiš srpski i četvrtkom ideš na razmenu jezika. To je mnogo!
- Maja:Bravo! I to sve na srpskom.
- Jelena:Samo srpski, važi? A danas ja častim!
- Maja:Odmah dolazim!
Good to know: Jelena says Bila sam kod mame. Bilo je lepo. That's the past tense: I was at my mom's. It was nice. You'll learn this form in Lesson 2.
Words & phrases
What friends say when they meet again, and a few words from Jelena's morning.
Catching up
Šta ima novo?
What's new?
Ništa posebno.
Nothing special.
Sve po starom.
Same as always.
A kod tebe?
And with you? (ti)
Kao i obično?
The usual?
Evo me!
Here I am!
Dobro nam došla!
Welcome back! (to a woman; to a man: Dobro nam došao! Some people also say Dobro došla nazad.)
Nedostajala si mi!
I missed you! (to a woman; a ready-made phrase for now)
Around town
iznenađenje
surprise
razmena jezika
language exchange
košava
the cold wind that blows through Belgrade in winter
How it works
No new rule today. This is the A1 Serbian that the whole A2 course builds on, in one table. Read it, and if a row feels new, it's worth going back to it before Lesson 2.
- In short
- Three groups: gledam, radim, pijem. Endings: ja -m, ti -š, on / ona no ending, mi -mo, vi -te, oni -ju / -e / -u.
- Examples
- Jelena radi od kuće. · Ti učiš srpski. · Oni piju čaj.
- In short
- Ne goes right before the verb. Nemam, neću and nisam are one word.
- Examples
- Ne pijem kafu. · Nemam auto. · Nisam umoran / umorna.
- In short
- After Ja ću, volim, imam, pijem..., a word ending in -a changes to -u. With Može...? nothing changes.
- Examples
- Ja ću kafu. · Volim čorbu. · Može jedna limunada?
- In short
- Sa (with) adds -om (-em after j, č, ć, š, ž). Bez (without) adds -a; words ending in -a take -e.
- Examples
- kafa sa mlekom · čaj bez šećera · dan bez kafe
- In short
- Dinar after 1, 21, 31... (but not 11). Dinara after every other number.
- Examples
- 21 dinar · 280 dinara · hiljadu dinara
- In short
- A describing word matches its noun: -a for ona words, -o or -e for ono words.
- Examples
- veliki čaj · topla kafa · hladno pivo · moja mačka
- In short
- Ti for friends, family and kids. Vi for older people, strangers and at work.
- Examples
- Kako si? · Kako ste? · Šta ćeš? / Šta ćete?
Ja ću kafu, not Ja ću kafa
Ja ću kafa.
Ja ću kafu.
After Ja ću, a word that ends in -a changes to -u. Kafa is on the menu; Ja ću kafu is your order.
Practice
Read: a message from Niš
On Saturday, two days before she came back, Jelena sent you this message.
Jelena, subota, 30. januar
Ćao! Kako si? Kako je Mrvica? Ovde u Nišu pada sneg i baš je hladno, ali kod mame je toplo. Mama kuva sarmu i peče pitu, a ja jedem po ceo dan. Danas idemo na tvrđavu, ako sneg stane. Sutra se vraćam u Beograd, vozom, u dva po podne. U ponedeljak ujutru zvonim na tvoja vrata, sa malim iznenađenjem! Mama pita ko čuva Mrvicu. Ja kažem: stan 7, naravno! Važno: Mrvica mnogo voli sir, ali ne sme da jede sir. Ako traži, ne daj! Vidimo se!
New words: baš = really, peče pitu = bakes a pie, po ceo dan = all day long, tvrđava = fortress, ako sneg stane = if the snow stops, sutra se vraćam = I'm coming back tomorrow, vozom = by train, zvonim na tvoja vrata = I'll ring your doorbell, ko čuva = who's looking after, ne sme da jede = she mustn't eat, ako traži, ne daj = if she asks, don't give in.
Culture note
Culture note
Šta ima? and Šta ima novo? aren't questions that wait for a long answer. Ništa posebno or Sve po starom is a perfectly friendly reply, and then you ask back: A kod tebe? When someone comes back from a trip, they bring something small from there: pastries from a favorite bakery, a homemade cake, a jar of ajvar or a bottle of rakija. A visit to a parent's town almost always ends with a bag of food for the road.
Your turn
Your writing goes to your instructor, who reads every one and writes back.
A normal day
Write Jelena a short message about a normal day in your life, in the present tense: when you get up, what you eat and drink, where you work or study, and what you do in the evening. Ask her something at the end. At least 30 words. Open the example only after you try.
Write it in your own words. Without an account, you can save your answer in this tab. Closing the tab deletes it.
Main writing task · at least 30 words. Submitting it is part of finishing this activity.
Example answer
Ćao, Jelena! Moj dan je obično miran. Ustajem u sedam i pijem kafu bez šećera. Radim od devet do pet, u kancelariji. Za ručak jedem salatu ili čorbu. Uveče učim srpski, gledam film ili šetam po Vračaru. Subotom spavam dugo! A ti? Kako je tvoj dan?
Compare the information and how it's phrased. Your answer doesn't need to use the same words.
Check yourself
Where do you stand? Fourteen quick questions on the A1 Serbian this course builds on: every row of the table, plus two short texts to read. You pass with 7, so the lesson can be completed either way, but your score is what matters: see what it means right after the quiz. The lesson is complete when you pass the quiz and send your writing task.
Quiz
Where you stand: A1 check
14 questions · pass mark 50%
- 1.
Jelena ___ od kuće. (raditi)
- 2.
Luka ___ kafu. (ne + piti)
- 3.
You order at Ugao. Which is right?
- 4.
Može ___? (kisela voda)
- 5.
Coffee with milk:
- 6.
Jelena doesn't eat meat. She orders pasulj ___.
- 7.
How do you say 2 dinars?
- 8.
A kapućino is 280 dinars. How do you say 280?
- 9.
Which is right?
- 10.
___ pivo (moj)
- 11.
You meet Mr. Petrović, your landlord, in the morning. How do you ask how he is?
- 12.
Maja and Jelena are friends. How does Maja ask what Jelena will have?
- 13.
Read the sign on the bakery door. PEKARA KLAS · Radno vreme: ponedeljak - subota, 7-20 h · Nedeljom ne radimo. Can you buy bread there on Sunday?
- 14.
Read Luka's message. Ćao! Danas sam u biblioteci ceo dan, učim. Nemam vremena za kafu. Ajde sutra? What's Luka's problem today?
Answer every question before you submit.
What does your score mean? Under the quiz you see how many answers you got right, for example 11/14.
- 12-14: You're ready for A2.
- 9-11: Ready, but go back to the tables above when you need them.
- Fewer than 9: Start with our A1 course first: Serbian for Real Life. A2 will be here when you come back.
What you can do now
What you can do now
You can catch up with Šta ima novo?, answer Ništa posebno or Sve po starom and ask back, talk about your normal week in the present tense, and you know which A1 topics you'd like to review. Next lesson: Bio sam, bila sam, how to say where you were and how it was.
More practice
Match each phrase with its meaning.
Put the conversation in order.
Grab a card and drag it to the right spot.