Ask the right question → pick the ending. Covers what the Cases course teaches. Not a full grammar book — high-frequency patterns for real use.
| Case | Ask (SR) | Job · when you need it | Example chunk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ko? šta? | Subject — who does the actionMarko čita. · Mačka spava. | Marko · mačka |
| Genitive | koga? čega? | Of / from / without — possession, absence (nema), quantity, many prepositionssestra Marka · nema mleka · čaša vode | Marka · mleka · vode |
| Dative | kome? čemu? | Receiver — to/for whom, help, give, writeDajem mami poklon. · Pomažem Marku. | mami · Marku |
| Accusative | koga? šta? | Direct object — whom/what the verb hits; motion into/onto with u/naVidim mačku. · Idem u sobu. | mačku · u sobu |
| Vocative | — (address) | Calling someone — direct speech onlyMarko! · Mama! · Gospodine! | Marko! · mamo! |
| Instrumental | kime? čime? | With / by means of — sa + company; tool without prep; place with pod/nadIdem sa prijateljem. · Pišem olovkom. · pod stolom | sa prijateljem · olovkom |
| Locative | gde? o kome/čemu? | Place & topic — always with a preposition (u, na, o, po, pri)u školi · na stolu · o filmu | u školi · o filmu |
Patterns from the course. Learn through chunks; use gender + question word as your check.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine (-a) | Neuter | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | cons. | -a | -o / -e | brat · knjiga · selo |
| Gen | -a | -e | -a | brata · knjige · sela |
| Dat | -u | -i | -u | bratu · knjizi · selu |
| Acc | -a (animate) / same (inanimate) | -u | same | brata · knjigu · selo |
| Voc | -e (cons.) / -o (names) | -o | same | brate! · mamo! · Marko! |
| Inst | -om / -em | -om | -om / -em | bratom · knjigom · selom |
| Loc | -u | -i | -u | o bratu · u školi · u selu |
Genitive — one form only (no short clitic). Accusative & dative — long/short (e.g. njega/ga, meni/mi). After a preposition → long form. Locative = same shapes as dative long (meni, njemu…).
| Person | Nom | Gen | Acc long / short |
Dat / Loc long / short |
Inst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ja (I) | ja | mene | mene/me | meni/mi | mnom |
| ti (you) | ti | tebe | tebe/te | tebi/ti | tobom |
| on (he) | on | njega | njega/ga | njemu/mu | njim |
| ona (she) | ona | nje | nju/je | njoj/joj | njom |
| ono (it) | ono | njega | njega/ga | njemu/mu | njim |
| mi (we) | mi | nas | nas | nama/nam | nama |
| vi (you — plural / formal) | vi | vas | vas | vama/vam | vama |
| oni (they) | oni | njih | njih/ih | njima/im | njima |
| Collision | Signal | Wrong trap | Right chunk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dat vs Acc | kome? receiver · koga/šta? thing | Dajem |
Dajem mami poklon. |
| Acc animate masc | looks like genitive | Vidim |
Vidim brata. |
| Loc vs Acc (u/na) | gde? place · kuda? motion | Idem |
Idem u školu. · Bio sam u školi. |
| Gen vs Inst (sa) | from/off vs with | Idem |
Knjiga pala sa stola. · Idem sa prijateljem. |
| Loc topic (o) | o čemu? about what | Pričamo |
Pričamo o filmu. |
| Gen absence | after nema | Nema |
Nema mleka. |
| Prep | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| u | inside · ingde? | u Beogradu · u školi · u januaru |
| na | on / at (surface, event, work)gde? | na stolu · na poslu · na koncertu |
| o | about (topic)o čemu? | o filmu · o deci |
| po | spread over / alonggde? | po sobi · po zidu |
| pri | at / on one's person / near endpri čemu? | pri sebi · pri kraju · pri bolnici |
| Case | Common triggers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Dative | dati, pomoći, pisati, pričati, reći, slati, pokloniti… | Pomažem tebi. · Pišem joj pismo. |
| Instrumental | sa/s + company; bare inst. = tool/means | Idem sa sestrom. · Jedem viljuškom. |
| Accusative | videti, voleti, imati, čitati, tražiti, znati… | Volim tebe. · Čitam knjigu. |
| Genitive | possession chain; nema, bez, od, iz, kod, do… | Kuća moje majke. · Bez tebe. |
FluentInSerbian · Padeži course · For preposition + case combos see the Predlozi cheat sheet · Print → Save as PDF.