Serbian Prepositions and the Cases They Govern
In English a preposition just sits in front of a noun and leaves it untouched: "at the doctor's", "from the city", "with a friend". Serbian works differently. Every preposition governs a case, which means it forces a specific ending onto the noun that follows. You can't keep the noun in its dictionary form, so the smartest move is to learn each preposition together with the case it demands, as one inseparable pair. Here is the core map. The genitive follows od, do, iz, kod, bez (and ispred, iza, oko, blizu, pored, posle): "kod doktora" (at the doctor's), "Idem kod doktora." (I'm going to the doctor's), "Vraćam se iz grada." (I'm coming back from the city), "Pijem kafu bez šećera." (I drink coffee without sugar). The dative follows prema and ka for direction: "Idemo prema školi." (We're heading toward the school). The instrumental follows s/sa, pred, nad: "Šetam sa prijateljem." (I'm walking with a friend), "Auto je pred kućom." (The car is in front of the house). Now the twist that trips everyone up: u and na. The same word takes the accusative for motion but the locative for location. Movement: "Ulazim u kuću." (I'm entering the house). Static position: "Sada sam u kući." (Now I'm in the house). One preposition, two endings, decided purely by whether something is moving. The classic beginner slip is leaving the noun bare: "kod doktor" is wrong; it must be "kod doktora". Don't treat Serbian prepositions as case-neutral the way English ones are. Learn the preposition and its case as a set, and these endings will start to feel automatic.
Examples
- kod doktora at the doctor's
- u kući in the house
- sa prijateljem with a friend
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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You say a preposition, then you pause. Which ending goes on the noun? kod doktor, kod doktoru, kod doktora? The secret is that every preposition always demands one same case.
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The main rule is simple. A preposition never stands alone. After it always comes a noun in a specific case, and the preposition itself chooses that case. Your job is to learn them together.
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Here is the map. The prepositions od, do, iz, kod and bez take the genitive. The prepositions prema and ka take the dative. The prepositions s, sa, pred and nad take the instrumental. And u, na and o change case depending on meaning — we will leave that for the end.
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Let us start with the genitive. The preposition kod means being at someone's place, and it always takes the genitive. The noun doktor becomes doktora. Idem kod doktora.
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The same case is taken by od, do and iz. The preposition iz means motion from inside, so the noun grad again goes into the genitive and becomes grada. Vraćam se iz grada.
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The preposition bez means the absence of something and also takes the genitive. The word šećer becomes šećera. Pijem kafu bez šećera.
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Now the dative. The prepositions prema and ka show direction toward something and take the dative. The noun škola becomes školi. Idemo prema školi.
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Now the instrumental. The preposition sa means together with someone or something and takes the instrumental. The word prijatelj becomes prijateljem. Šetam sa prijateljem.
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The instrumental is also taken by the prepositions pred and nad, which describe a position in front of or above something. The noun kuća becomes kućom. Auto je pred kućom.
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And now the most important thing. The prepositions u and na are not tied to just one case. When they describe motion, they go with the accusative. When they describe the place where something is located, they go with the locative. Same word, two cases.
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Look at motion. You go somewhere, you enter into something — that is the accusative. The noun kuća becomes kuću. Ulazim u kuću.
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And now location. You are inside, nothing is moving — that is the locative. The same noun kuća now becomes kući. Sada sam u kući.
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Here is the trap. You learn a preposition but forget its case, then guess the ending. After the preposition kod it is not kod doktor but kod doktora, in the genitive. Learn the preposition and the case as one pair.
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Remember it this way. Every preposition carries its own case. And for u and na ask yourself: is it motion or location.
