The plural: where Serbian breaks the pattern
The regular plural is easy: masculine takes -i, feminine -e, neuter -a. soba → sobe, selo → sela. For example: “Стан има два прозора” — The apartment has two windows. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The regular plural is easy: masculine takes -i, feminine -e, neuter -a. soba → sobe, selo → sela.
Three things break the pattern. Short masculine words need a run-up first, an extra syllable. sto → stolovi, ključ → ključevi, grad → gradovi.
Some words have no singular at all: vrata (door), leđa (back), kola (car). One door, and the verb still goes plural: Vrata su otvorena.
And counting bends the noun. After 2, 3, 4 comes one shape — dva stola, tri sobe. From five up, another — pet stolova, pet soba.
Table
| one | many | the trap |
|---|---|---|
| sto | stolovi | the -ov- insert |
| ključ | ključevi | the -ev- insert |
| soba | sobe | just the regular ending |
| vrata | vrata | no singular exists |
| leđa | leđa | no singular exists |
| dete | deca | feminine, and singular on paper |
| dva stola | pet stolova | after 5 the shape changes |
By example
- Стан има два прозораStan ima dva prozoraThe apartment has two windows
- Кључеви су на столуKljučevi su na stoluThe keys are on the table
- Врата су затворенаVrata su zatvorenaThe door is closed
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
The plural: how does it work in Serbian?
The regular plural is easy: masculine takes -i, feminine -e, neuter -a. soba → sobe, selo → sela.
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“Стан има два прозора” (Stan ima dva prozora) — The apartment has two windows. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.