Vreme, seme, dete: the neuter that grows a syllable
Two words in this unit refuse to behave the way the regular plurals taught you: seme pluralizes to semena, and dete in the of-form becomes deteta. These are not exceptions but a whole class of neuters, and it contains some of the commonest words of the language. English has the same trick in miniature: child → children — a related form sprouts an extra syllable. For example: “Нема времена, а семена има довољно”…
How it works
Two words in this unit refuse to behave the way the regular plurals taught you: seme pluralizes to semena, and dete in the of-form becomes deteta. These are not exceptions but a whole class of neuters, and it contains some of the commonest words of the language. English has the same trick in miniature: child → children — a related form sprouts an extra syllable.
Type one — the -n- insert. Vreme (time, weather), ime (name), seme (seed), rame (shoulder), pleme, teme. Short in the plain form, sprouting a syllable in every other case: vremena, imena, semena, ramena. Hence nema vremena — there is no time — and bole me ramena — my shoulders hurt.
Type two — the -t- insert, and it is about younglings. Dete (child), jagnje (lamb), tele (calf), pile (chick), unuče (grandchild), mače (kitten). The of-form: deteta, jagnjeta, mačeta. The meat words are built on exactly this stem: jagnjetina, teletina, junetina.
The younglings have a plural of their own — a collective in -ad. Jagnjad, pilad, unučad, momčad. The word is grammatically feminine singular: jagnjad je na paši — the lambs are grazing, singular verb. And dete has a wholly different plural — deca — also feminine singular on paper: deca je došla, not "deca su došli". English would have to say "the children is here" and be right; that is the flavor of the rule.
And third — words with no singular at all. Vrata (door), kola (car), leđa (back), usta (mouth), makaze (scissors), naočare (glasses), novine (newspaper). Like English "scissors" and "trousers". You cannot say "one vrata": they are counted with jedna dvoja troja — dvoja vrata — one pair of doors. They agree in the plural: vrata su otvorena — the door is open, plural verb.
Table
| the word | the of-form | the plural | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| vreme | vremena | vremena | time, weather |
| ime | imena | imena | name |
| seme | semena | semena | seed |
| rame | ramena | ramena | shoulder |
| dete | deteta | deca | child |
| jagnje | jagnjeta | jagnjad | lamb |
| vrata | vrata | plural only | door |
| kola | kola | plural only | car |
By example
- Нема времена, а семена има довољноNema vremena, a semena ima dovoljnoThere is no time, but there are plenty of seeds
- Име детета пише на списку исподIme deteta piše na spisku ispodThe child's name is written on the list below
- Кола су на паркингу, а врата су откључанаKola su na parkingu, a vrata su otključanaThe car is in the parking lot, and the door is unlocked
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
Vreme, seme, dete: how does it work in Serbian?
Two words in this unit refuse to behave the way the regular plurals taught you: seme pluralizes to semena, and dete in the of-form becomes deteta. These are not exceptions but a whole class of neuters, and it contains some of the commonest words of the language. English has the same trick in…
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“Нема времена, а семена има довољно” (Nema vremena, a semena ima dovoljno) — There is no time, but there are plenty of seeds. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.