How to Form Plural Nouns in Serbian (Nominative Case)
In English you make almost everything plural the same way: add -s. Cat becomes cats, book becomes books, and you're done. Serbian works completely differently, and this is the first thing that trips up English speakers. There is no -s plural anywhere in Serbian. Instead, the ending you add depends on the gender of the noun. There are three patterns to learn. Masculine nouns, which usually end in a consonant, take -i in the plural: student becomes studenti and profesor becomes profesori. Feminine nouns ending in -a swap that -a for -e: žena (woman) becomes žene, and knjiga (book) becomes knjige. Neuter nouns ending in -o or -e take -a: selo (village) becomes sela, and jezero (lake) becomes jezera. So before you can make a Serbian noun plural, you first have to know its gender. That feels like extra work compared to English, but the endings are consistent, so it becomes automatic with practice. Now the traps. Short, one-syllable masculine nouns don't just add -i; they insert -ov- (or -ev- after a soft consonant) first. So grad (city) becomes gradovi, most (bridge) becomes mostovi, sin (son) becomes sinovi, and kraj (end, region) becomes krajevi. Beginners often guess "gradi" by analogy with studenti, but that form is wrong. There is also a sound change to watch for. When a masculine stem ends in k, g, or h, that consonant softens before -i. This is called sibilarization: vojnik (soldier) becomes vojnici, not "vojniki." The single biggest mistake English speakers make is reaching for -s. There is no "grads," no "ženas," no "selos." Serbian chooses -i, -e, or -a strictly by gender. Internalize the three gender patterns first, then layer on the -ov-/-ev- insertion and sibilarization, and Serbian plurals will start to feel natural.
Examples
- gradovi cities
- žene women
- sela villages
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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One grad — but how do you say several of them? You don't just add an -s on the end. Serbian plurals have their own rules, and they depend on gender.
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This is the subject form — the answer to who or what?. And the ending depends on the noun's gender.
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Three genders, three endings. Masculine takes -i, feminine nouns in -a take -e, and neuter takes -a. Remember: i, e, a.
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Let's start with the feminine. Žena ends in -a; in the plural that -a becomes -e — žene. žena → žene
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Same with knjiga: it ends in -a, so the plural is knjige. knjiga → knjige
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Now the neuter. Selo ends in -o; in the plural that -o becomes -a — sela. selo → sela
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So jezero gives jezera too — again -o turns into -a. jezero → jezera
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Now the masculine. Longer nouns are easy: student takes -i — studenti, and profesor becomes profesori. student → studenti
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But watch the short masculine nouns — that's where people slip up. Grad isn't gradi. You insert -ov-, giving gradovi. Many one-syllable nouns work this way.
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So most gives mostovi, sin gives sinovi. After a soft consonant you get -ev-: kraj becomes krajevi. most → mostovi · kraj → krajevi
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One more detail: when the stem ends in k, g or h, that sound changes before -i. Vojnik becomes vojnici. vojnik → vojnici
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The biggest trap: don't add an -s on the end. There's no gradovis or ženas. Serbian picks the ending by gender — i, e or a.
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Look at all three genders together: masculine in -i, feminine in -e, neuter in -a. Spot the gender first, then you know the ending.
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To recap: masculine -i, feminine -e, neuter -a. Short masculine nouns insert -ov- or -ev-. And never an -s on the end.
