Lingomir
A1 — beginnerSurvival and personal

Personal information

Lesson opening

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

Talking about yourself

Sooner or later someone in Serbia will ask you about yourself. Name and surname, age, where you are from and where you live, phone, email, and often a signature on a form: this is the first thing they ask at the bank, the mobile operator, the health centre and the police. A practical lesson: ready-made formulas to introduce yourself and fill in an everyday form.

We barely touch grammar; we take the phrases whole. The cases after iz and u and agreement with numbers get lessons of their own. The task: to say, without stumbling, who you are, how old you are and how to reach you.

What's your name?

Two ways to ask. With the verb "to be called": Kako se zoveš? (to a friend, ti) and Kako se zovete? (polite, Vi). The answer: Zovem se Ana., literally "I call myself Ana". Or with ime, "name": Kako ti je ime?, answered Moje ime je Marko. or, shorter, Ime mi je Marko. (both “My name is Marko.”)

First name and surname

Two key words: ime, (first) name, and prezime, surname. On a form they stand together: ime i prezime. To ask for a surname: Koje je vaše prezime?

How old are you?

Serbian does not say "I am 25". It says "I have 25 years": imati ("to have") plus years, like French j'ai 25 ans and Spanish tengo 25 años. The question: Koliko imaš godina?, politely Koliko imate godina?; the answer: Imam dvadeset pet godina. Just as good Serbian is the question with the dative, the "to whom" form: Koliko ti je godina?, "how many years are there to you?"

The word for "year" changes with the number, like "hour" in "Numbers, time & days": godinu with 1, godine with 2–4, godina with 5 and up. The last word of the number decides: 21 ends in “one”, and after imam it takes the accusative, dvadeset jednu godinu, as in “Cardinals 1–10”. Details in “Agreement with 5 and up”.

Cheat sheet

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

Talking about yourself

Name and surname

ime = first name, prezime = surname; on forms ime i prezime. Ja sam Marko. Drago mi je. I'm Marko. Nice to meet you. se = “myself”, in second place: Ja se zovem Ana.

Age: you "have" years

Koliko imaš godina? / Koliko imate godina? → Imam dvadeset pet godina. Dative: Koliko ti je godina? → Meni je 25 godina.

Where from, where you live

Odakle si? / Odakle ste? → Ja sam iz Rusije. / Iz Rusije sam. Gde živiš? → Živim u Beogradu. Rodom sam iz Rusije, a živim u Beogradu. Where are you from? From Russia. Where do you live? In Belgrade. Originally from Russia, living in Belgrade.

Nationality, occupation, languages

Ja sam student. (no “a”; languages in lower case). Po zanimanju sam inženjer. Govorim ruski, srpski i engleski. Govorim malo srpski. I'm an engineer by profession. I speak Russian, Serbian and English. I speak a little Serbian.

Address, phone, email

  • adresa address, ulica street, broj number, sprat floor, stan flat; street first: Ulica kralja Petra, broj 5.
  • broj telefona; zero = nula, digit by digit: Koji je tvoj broj telefona? Moj broj je nula šest pet — tri dva jedan — četiri devet devet.
  • Email imejl (mejl), officially elektronska pošta. @ = majmunče or et; dot = tačka; no č, š… in addresses. Letters: be, ce, je ("yeh"), ka, em, en, er, es. ana.petrovic@gmail.com = ana tačka petrovic majmunče gmail tačka com.

Forms and documents

Form: formular or obrazac; fill in = popuniti. Dates: 15.03.1990. (day, month, year) ID card lična karta, passport pasoš. Address registration: prijava boravišta (colloquially prijava boravka) at the policijska stanica; you get the beli karton (“white card”).