What does the Serbian genitive case do?

It marks possession ("of"), origin (where something comes from), and quantity. In English you'd use "of," word order, or apostrophe-s; in Serbian the noun ending changes instead. For example, centar grada means "the city centre."

How do genitive endings work in Serbian?

In the singular, masculine and neuter nouns add -a (grad → grada, selo → sela), and feminine nouns ending in -a swap it for -e (žena → žene, voda → vode, kafa → kafe).

Which prepositions take the genitive in Serbian?

Several do, but start with four: od (from/off), do (to/up to), iz (out of/from), and kod (at someone's place). After any of them the noun goes genitive — for example, kod doktora, "at the doctor's."

Do I need to add “od” to say “of” in Serbian?

No — and this is the most common beginner mistake. For possession the genitive ending already means "of," so centar grada is correct and centar od grada is wrong. Use od only for origin, source, or material.

How do you say “a glass of water” in Serbian?

Čaša vode. The quantity word čaša (glass) puts the noun into the genitive, so voda (water) becomes vode. The same pattern gives šolja kafe, "a cup of coffee."

Nouns & Cases

The Serbian Genitive Case, Explained for Beginners

Level A1 Nouns & Cases

Key idea

The Serbian genitive case (genitiv) is the one you reach for whenever you want to say that something belongs to something, comes from somewhere, or is a measured amount. In English we lean on the little word of, on word order, or on an apostrophe-s to do those jobs. Serbian does something different: instead of adding a word, it changes the ending of the noun itself. The ending carries the meaning, so you usually don't add a preposition at all. <h2>The three jobs of the genitive</h2> 1. Possession ("of"). centar grada means the city centre — literally "the centre of-the-city." Notice grad (city) has become grada. Another: vrata kuće = the door of the house (kuća → kuće). 2. Origin / where from. Here Serbian does use a preposition, and it triggers the genitive: Iz Beograda sam. = I'm from Belgrade. (Beograd → Beograda). 3. Quantity / measure. After amount words the noun goes genitive: čaša vode = a glass of water (voda → vode), and šolja kafe = a cup of coffee (kafa → kafe). <h2>How the endings change</h2> For a first pass, you only need two patterns in the singular: <ul> <li>Masculine and neuter nouns add -a: grad → grada, selo → sela.</li> <li>Feminine nouns ending in -a swap it for -e: žena → žene, voda → vode, kuća → kuće, kafa → kafe.</li> </ul> <h2>Prepositions that demand the genitive</h2> Some prepositions always pull the noun into the genitive. Four to start with: od (from / off), do (to / up to), iz (out of / from), and kod (at someone's place). So kod doktora = at the doctor's (doktor → doktora). Whenever one of these words appears, the noun after it must take a genitive ending. <h2>The #1 beginner mistake</h2> English speakers naturally want to translate of, so they reach for od to show possession. Resist it. For plain possession the genitive ending already says "of" — you do not add a preposition: <ul> <li>centar od grada — wrong</li> <li>centar grada — right ("the city centre")</li> </ul> Od is perfectly correct for origin, source or material (a gift od someone), but not for who something belongs to. Let the ending do the work: that single habit fixes most early genitive errors.

Examples

centar grada the city centre
čaša vode a glass of water
Iz Beograda sam. I'm from Belgrade.

The full lesson

Everything in the video, in text.

genitive

possession · origin · quantity

Want to say the city centre? Many people add od and say centar od grada. But Serbian doesn't need it — a bare genitive is enough. Let's see how it works.
Genitive = possession, origin and quantity — "of" / "whose".

The genitive is the case that answers whose? or of what?. You use it to say that something belongs to someone, where something comes from, and how much of it there is.
genitive endings

masculine grad → grada
neuter selo → sela
feminine -a žena → žene

First, the endings. Masculine and neuter nouns take the ending -a. Grad becomes grada, and selo becomes sela. Feminine nouns ending in -a take -e: žena becomes žene.
centar grada
grad → grada · masculine

Let's start with possession. Centar grada — the centre belongs to the city, so grad goes into the genitive and becomes grada. centar grada
vrata kuće
kuća → kuće · feminine -e

It works the same with a feminine noun. Vrata kuće — kuća shifts into the genitive and becomes kuće, with the ending -e. vrata kuće
čaša vode
voda → vode · quantity

Now quantity. After words of measure or amount, the genitive follows. Čaša vode — voda becomes vode, because we're saying how much of something there is. čaša vode
šolja kafe
kafa → kafe · quantity

Same principle: šolja kafe. Kafa becomes kafe — again the genitive of quantity. šolja kafe
prepositions with the genitive
preposition
od
do
iz
kod
meaning
from / of
to / until
out of
at / by
Many prepositions also require the genitive. The most important are: od, do, iz and kod. After each one, the noun goes into the genitive.
Iz Beograda sam.
iz + genitive · origin

Iz Beograda sam. The preposition iz means origin — where you come from — so Beograd goes into the genitive and becomes Beograda. Iz Beograda sam.
kod doktora
kod + genitive

And with the preposition kod. Kod doktora — kod means at someone's, so doktor goes into the genitive and becomes doktora. kod doktora
✗ centar od grada redundant "od"

✓ centar grada bare genitive

For possession, don't add "od" — the genitive itself already carries the "of / whose" meaning.

Here's the most common mistake. Many people add od and say centar od grada. But for possession Serbian uses a bare genitive — centar grada. No preposition.
Remember
- genitive = possession · origin · quantity
- masc/neuter -a, feminine -e
- prepositions od, do, iz, kod — and a bare genitive for "whose"
Let's recap. The genitive expresses possession, origin and quantity. Masculine and neuter take -a, feminine takes -e. It's required by the prepositions od, do, iz, kod — and for a simple whose you use a bare genitive, without od.

masculine	grad → grada
neuter	selo → sela
feminine -a	žena → žene

Examples

genitive

Recommended videos

Related lessons