LingoflyPreviše skup, dovoljno velik: adjectives with an entourage
An adjective rarely stands alone. A degree word clings in front of it and a completion follows behind, and Serbian keeps that order. For example: “Стан (Stan) је (je) превише (previše) скуп (skup) за (za) наш (naš) буџет” (budžet) — The apartment is too expensive for our budget. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
An adjective rarely stands alone. A degree word clings in front of it and a completion follows behind, and Serbian keeps that order.
In front goes the degree word: previše skup, dovoljno velik, pomalo bučan. It never comes after the adjective; "skup previše" reads like a word-for-word rendering.
The prefix pre- says the same thing shorter and sharper: preskup — too pricey, prevelik — too big. Stan je preskup and Stan je previše skup mean one and the same.
Behind comes the completion, and it drags its own case or preposition along. Learn it together with the word: pun nečega, sličan nečemu, zadovoljan nečim, spreman za nešto, ljut na nekoga.
Table
| what we do | how | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| boost | a word in front | previše skup | too expensive |
| boost, shorter | the prefix pre- | preskup | too expensive |
| soften | pomalo, prilično | pomalo bučan | a bit noisy |
| complete | pun + of-form | pun kutija | full of boxes |
| complete | zadovoljan + with-form | zadovoljan stanom | happy with the apartment |
| complete | spreman za | spreman za selidbu | ready for the move |
| compare | nego + same case | skuplji nego prošli | more expensive than the last |
| compare | od + of-form | skuplji od prošlog | more expensive than the last |
By example
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
Previše skup, dovoljno velik: how does it work in Serbian?
An adjective rarely stands alone. A degree word clings in front of it and a completion follows behind, and Serbian keeps that order.
What does it look like in a Serbian example sentence?
“Стан (Stan) је (je) превише (previše) скуп (skup) за (za) наш (naš) буџет” (budžet) (Stan je previše skup za naš budžet) — The apartment is too expensive for our budget. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.