Locative forms

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Locative forms

The locative (lokativ) is the fourth case of this unit, after the genitive, the dative and the instrumental. It comes with two pieces of good news. First, you already know its forms. For nouns, the locative is spelt exactly like the dative (gradu, ženi, noći), so half of this lesson was learned back in “Dative forms”. The personal pronouns are the exception: the locative has no short forms like mi, ti, mu, only the full ones (o meni, about me). Second, the locative never appears on its own, only after a preposition (u, na, o, po, pri), and the preposition makes it easy to spot.

So this lesson is about what the case does. At its centre is one pair: u grad versus u gradu. The same preposition, the same noun, and yet “into the city” (where to? motion) and “in the city” (where? rest) take different cases. You saw this pair from the accusative side in “Accusative prepositions (direction)”; here we look at it from the locative side.

The forms: the same as the dative

Here is the paradigm again, seen as the locative. The columns are twins.

Everything you learned about the dative carries over word for word: -u in the first declension (neuters too: more → na moru, at the seaside), -i in the second and third, and the same sibilarization in the second, where a k, g or h before -i turns into c, z or s: ruka → u ruci, noga → na nozi, banka → u banci, knjiga → u knjizi, majka → o majci (about Mother). As in the dative, names and pet words usually keep their consonant: o baki (about Grandma). In the first declension the ending is -u, so nothing changes: o đaku (about the pupil), u parku (in the park). The plural shares -ima/-ama: u gradovima (in cities), o ženama (about women), u stvarima (in things).

The key pair: u grad versus u gradu

Here is the real reason to understand the locative well. The prepositions u (in) and na (on, at) can govern two cases in Serbian, and the choice between them changes the meaning. With the accusative they mean motion, direction (where to?); with the locative they mean location, rest (where?):

Cheat sheet

The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.

Locative forms

The locative (lokativ): the case of place and topic. Questions: gde? (where?), o kome?, o čemu? (about whom? about what?). Never without a preposition; the main ones: u, na, o, po, pri. Noun forms are spelt like the dative’s. Pronouns: full forms only (o meni, o tebi, o njemu, o nama).

Forms = dative forms

Sibilarization (k/g/h → c/z/s before -i): u ruci, na nozi, u banci, u knjizi, u reci, o majci; names and pet words usually keep the consonant: o baki. 1st declension, no change: o đaku, u parku. An l appears: sto → na stolu, posao → na poslu, ugao → na uglu.

The key pair: u grad versus u gradu

The verb decides: motion (idem, stavljam) → accusative; rest (živim, radim, sam) → locative. Only u and na choose between the two; English on is no guide.

Topic and circumstance: o, po, pri

Locative here; po + accusative means “fetch”: idem po hleb.

u or na: where a Serb says “on”

Also: na selu (in the countryside), na ulici (in the street); at home: kod kuće. The case after “where?” is always locative.

The four cases at a glance