Boli me glava: the body in the plain form, the person as object
This unit opens with a sentence that breaks an English habit: boli me glava. The subject here is the head; the person stands in the whom-case — me. Literally "it hurts ME, the head", and no reshuffling turns it into "my head hurts". For example: “Боле ме леђа и врат, а глава ме не боли” — My back and neck hurt, but my head does not. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
This unit opens with a sentence that breaks an English habit: boli me glava. The subject here is the head; the person stands in the whom-case — me. Literally "it hurts ME, the head", and no reshuffling turns it into "my head hurts".
The full person row: boli me, boli te, boli ga, boli je, boli nas, boli vas, boli ih. The verb agrees not with the person but with the body part: boli me glava — one head, but bole me leđa — the back is plural in Serbian, bole me oči, bole me zubi.
The same whom-case is demanded by a whole gang of states, none of them using "to be" in the present. Strah me je — I am scared, stid me je — I am ashamed, sramota me je, briga me — I do not care. In the past bilo pops up: bilo me je strah.
And right next to it — the to-case, and it is about something else. Muka mi je — I feel sick, hladno mi je, mučno mi je, bolje mi je, dosta mi je, lakše mi je. The dividing line is simple: boli and fear take the person as their object; the impersonal verdicts on a state take the to-case.
Your own condition is described two ways. Through se: osećam se dobro, osećam se loše, osećam se bolje — always with se, or you end up "sensing a smell". Or a plain adjective with sam: prehlađen sam — I have caught a cold, bolestan sam, umoran sam.
To complain to a doctor: žalim se na with the object form — žalim se na bolove u leđima — I complain of back pain. A symptom can also be a verb: kašljem — I cough, kijam — I sneeze, imam temperaturu — I have a fever, povraćam — I am sick.
The classic error is to say it the English way — "moja glava boli". It will be understood, but it sounds like homework: Serbian almost never makes the body part the subject without the aching person standing next to it in the object form.
Table
| the phrase | the person's case | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| boli | whom-case | boli me glava | my head hurts |
| bole (pl.) | whom-case | bole me leđa | my back hurts |
| strah je | whom-case | strah me je | I am scared |
| stid je | whom-case | stid me je | I am ashamed |
| muka je | to-case | muka mi je | I feel sick |
| hladno je | to-case | hladno mi je | I am cold |
| bolje je | to-case | bolje mi je | I feel better |
| osećati se | always with se | osećam se bolje | I feel better |
By example
- Боле ме леђа и врат, а глава ме не болиBole me leđa i vrat, a glava me ne boliMy back and neck hurt, but my head does not
- Мука ми је од лека, али осећам се боље него јучеMuka mi je od leka, ali osećam se bolje nego jučeThe medicine makes me sick, but I feel better than yesterday
- Страх ме је од игала, зато сам одлагао вакцинуStrah me je od igala, zato sam odlagao vakcinuI am scared of needles, which is why I kept putting off the vaccine
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
Boli me glava: how does it work in Serbian?
This unit opens with a sentence that breaks an English habit: boli me glava. The subject here is the head; the person stands in the whom-case — me. Literally "it hurts ME, the head", and no reshuffling turns it into "my head hurts".
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“Боле ме леђа и врат, а глава ме не боли” (Bole me leđa i vrat, a glava me ne boli) — My back and neck hurt, but my head does not. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.