Your task
Wednesday, February 3 · Kafić Ugao, 8:30 a.m.
Your task
Last Saturday you went up Avala, the small mountain at the edge of Belgrade, with Luka and Nemanja. This morning, at Ugao, Maja wants to know all about it. Then Luka comes in, and he has news of his own. Your goal: tell what you did with any verb in the past, learn the irregular ones (išao, jeo, video), and read who did what in a group chat.
By the end you can
Say what you and others did (radio sam, gledala je, šetali smo), use the irregular verbs ići, doći, reći, moći, jesti, videti and pasti, and write about your Saturday.
Guess first: how do you think you say I went?
Not idao, as you might guess from ići. It's išao for a man and išla for a woman. A few common verbs are irregular like this, and you'll learn them here.
The scene
Read the conversation. Try it on your own first, and open the translations only if you need them. Your lines are marked You: they're all about the group (we), so they're the same for everyone.
- Maja:Dobro jutro! Kao i obično?
- You:Dobro jutro! Da, kao i obično, hvala.
- Maja:Kako je bilo za vikend? Jelena kaže da ste bili na Avali.
- You:Bilo je super! Išli smo u subotu, Luka, Nemanja i ja.
- Maja:Na Avalu, po ovoj košavi? Šta ste radili gore?
- You:Šetali smo dva sata kroz šumu, do tornja. Nemanja je napravio sendviče sa sirom i ajvarom, a Luka je doneo čaj u termosu. Jeli smo i pili gore, pored tornja.
- Maja:Bravo! Bilo je hladno, a?
- You:Jeste, bilo je hladno, ali lepo. Videli smo ceo Beograd.
- Luka:Dobro jutro... Majo, jedan čaj, molim te.
- Maja:Luka! Šta je bilo? Izgledaš umorno.
- Luka:Imao sam ispit iz matematike u četvrtak. Učio sam tri dana i skoro da nisam spavao. I... pao sam.
- Maja:Joj, Luka. Polako, položićeš. Ima još rokova.
- Luka:Znam. I mama je rekla isto. Bar je Avala bila super. Nemanja je jeo za troje!
- You:A ti si pio čaj za troje!
- Maja:Eto! Izvolite. Luka, čaj je od kuće.
Answer from what you read. Try it first without the translations.
Words & phrases
New words from the scene and the chat.
za vikend
at the weekend, over the weekend
šetati
to walk, to go for a walk
praviti / napraviti
to make
doneti
to bring
termos
a thermos
toranj
tower (on Avala: the TV tower)
ispit
exam
pasti ispit
to fail an exam (pasti = to fall)
položiti ispit
to pass an exam
Polako, položićeš.
Take it easy, you'll pass. (a set phrase)
umoran / umorna
tired (a man / a woman)
od kuće
on the house
How it works
In Lesson 2 you learned bio sam, bila sam. Every other verb works the same way: a short word (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) plus a form that ends in -o, -la, -lo, -li or -le.
Regular verbs: take off -ti, add -o or -la
radi-ti -> radio / radila / radilo / radili / radile
Start from the dictionary form: radi-ti, gleda-ti, pi-ti. Take off -ti and add the ending for the person: -o for a man or an on word, -la for a woman or an ona word, -lo for an ono word, -li for men or a mixed group, -le for women only. Then add sam, si, je, smo, ste or su, just like with bio. The short word is never first: Radio sam or Ja sam radio, both right. Ja sam radio only puts the focus on ja (I). Why? The -o form works like English -ed, but it also shows if the person is a man or a woman.
- 1.
Radio sam ceo dan.
I worked all day. (a man)
- 2.
Radila sam ceo dan.
I worked all day. (a woman)
- 3.
Maja je gledala film.
Maja watched a film.
- 4.
Čitao je knjigu, a ona je spavala.
He read a book, and she slept.
- 5.
Jelena i Ana su kuvale ručak.
Jelena and Ana cooked lunch. (women only)
- a man, or men and women
- radio sam
- a woman, or women only
- radila sam
- a man, or men and women
- radio si
- a woman, or women only
- radila si
- a man, or men and women
- radio je
- a woman, or women only
- radila je
- a man, or men and women
- radili smo
- a woman, or women only
- radile smo
- a man, or men and women
- radili ste
- a woman, or women only
- radile ste
- a man, or men and women
- radili su
- a woman, or women only
- radile su
For an ono word: radilo je, like bilo je. A thing takes the form of its word: čaj je bio vruć, telefon je umro. And polite Vi to one person always takes -li, man or woman: Vi ste radili.
Irregular verbs: learn these by heart
- a man
- išao
- a woman
- išla
- a group
- išli
- a man
- došao
- a woman
- došla
- a group
- došli
- a man
- rekao
- a woman
- rekla
- a group
- rekli
- a man
- mogao
- a woman
- mogla
- a group
- mogli
- a man
- jeo
- a woman
- jela
- a group
- jeli
- a man
- video
- a woman
- videla
- a group
- videli
- a man
- pao
- a woman
- pala
- a group
- pali
Irregular verbs in real sentences
The man's form is the one to watch: išao, došao, rekao, mogao, jeo, pao. The woman's form and the group form are easier: išla, išli. Videti looks regular (vide-ti, video), but learn it here, because it's everywhere. Why? The dictionary form hides the real stem: jes-ti is really jed-, pas-ti is pad-, reć-i is rek-, moć-i is mog-. The past is built on that hidden stem: rek + ao = rekao, mog + ao = mogao, and d drops out: jeo, pao. Ići is the true odd one: išao.
- 1.
Išla sam kod mame u Niš.
I went to my mom's in Niš. (Jelena)
- 2.
Došli smo kući u šest.
We came home at six.
- 3.
Jela sam burek.
I ate burek. (a woman)
- 4.
Video sam Kalemegdan.
I saw Kalemegdan. (a man)
- 5.
Pala je na ledu.
She fell on the ice.
išao and jeo, not idao and jedao
Ja sam idao na Avalu i jedao sendviče.
Ja sam išao na Avalu i jeo sendviče.
Ići and jesti don't follow the -ti rule: išao (išla), jeo (jela). Idao and jedao don't exist, but every learner tries them once.
Practice
New: who did what? Read the group chat
Saturday, January 30, 8:15 p.m. After Avala, the group chat Avala gets busy. Read it, then fill in the gaps.
- Nemanja:Ljudi, hvala za danas! Bilo je super.
- Luka:Hvala tebi za sendviče! Ja sam slikao samo toranj, a onda je telefon umro. Previše hladno!
- You:Ja imam trideset slika. Šaljem sada!
- Nemanja:Super! A ko je uzeo moje rukavice? Sive, velike.
- Luka:Ups. Ja. Zaboravio sam svoje kod kuće, pa sam na povratku, u autobusu, uzeo tvoje. Izvini!
- Nemanja:Ha-ha, znao sam! Nema veze. Ali sledeći put ti praviš sendviče.
One more text
Thursday, January 28, 6:40 p.m. Luka writes to his mom in Niš, where Jelena is visiting.
Ćao, mama! Evo, ispit je bio danas. Ukratko: pao sam. Učio sam tri dana i skoro da nisam spavao. Ujutru autobus nije došao, pa sam trčao do fakulteta i stigao sam deset minuta kasnije. Prvi zadatak sam uradio, drugi isto. Onda sam video treći zadatak i... to je bilo to. Profesor je bio fin. Rekao je: Vidimo se u aprilu! I ne, nisam jeo samo čips. Jeo sam i banane, kao pravi sportista. Sad idem kod Nemanje na večeru. Pozdrav za tebe i Jelenu! Luka
New words: ukratko = in short, trčati = to run, stići = to arrive, kasnije = later, zadatak = task, problem, uraditi = to do, to solve.
Culture note
Culture note
January is exam time at Serbian universities: the ispitni rok (exam period). Fail an exam (pao sam, literally I fell) and you can take it again in a later period. There are several every year, in April, June, September and October. So Polako, položićeš is what everybody says, and the question students get asked most at home is Jesi li položio? or Jesi li položila? Did you pass?
Your turn
Your writing goes to your instructor, who reads every one and writes back.
Your Saturday
Write what you did last Saturday: 5 or 6 things, 40 to 70 words. Use at least two irregular verbs (išao / išla, jeo / jela, video / videla, došao / došla). Write with your own form: a man writes bio, radio; a woman writes bila, radila. At least 40 words. Your instructor will read it. 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 40 words. Submitting it is part of finishing this activity.
Example answer
Ja sam ustao / ustala kasno, u deset. Pio / Pila sam kafu i čitao / čitala vesti. Onda sam išao / išla na pijacu i kupio / kupila voće. Ručao / Ručala sam kod drugarice. Popodne smo šetali po Kalemegdanu. Uveče sam gledao / gledala film i jeo / jela picu. Bilo je lepo.
Compare the information and how it's phrased. Your answer doesn't need to use the same words.
Check yourself
Four questions. Get three right to pass, and try again as many times as you like. The lesson is complete when you pass the quiz and send your writing task.
Quiz
Check yourself: what did you do?
4 questions · pass mark 75%
- 1.
Maja tells you about her Saturday: I read a book. Which is right?
- 2.
Luka ___ na fakultet autobusom.
- 3.
Luka, Nemanja and you on Avala. How do you say: We ate up there?
- 4.
Luka and Jelena went to the cinema. Luka i Jelena su ___ u bioskop.
Answer every question before you submit.
What you can do now
What you can do now
You can say what you and other people did with any verb: radio sam, gledala je, šetali smo. You know the irregular ones (išao, došao, rekao, mogao, jeo, video, pao), you can tell a man's form from a woman's, and you can read a group chat and say who did what. Next: when it happened. Juče, prošle nedelje, pre dva dana, and how to tell a story in order.
More practice
Match each verb with its past form (a man).