Lesson 32. Plural: neuter gender
The main rule: -o/-e → -a
Neuter nouns in the plural take the ending -a.
| One | Many | Translation |
|---|---|---|
selo | **sela** | village → villages |
more | **mora** | sea → seas |
jezero | **jezera** | lake → lakes |
polje | **polja** | field → fields |
vino | **vina** | wine → wines |
pismo | **pisma** | letter → letters |
Special “growing” words
Those same dete, pile, jagnje form their plural in a special way:
dete → deca (дете → деца)
— child → children (feminine singular!)
pile → pilići (пиле → пилићи)
— chick → chicks (masculine plural)
In speech
Imamo dva mora. (Имамо два мора.)
— We have two seas.
Sva polja su zelena. (Сва поља су зелена.)
— All the fields are green.
Deca vole sladoled. (Деца воле сладолед.)
— The children love ice cream.
Exercises
Exercise 1
The plural of «more»:
Show explanation
more → mora (neuter: -e → -a).
Exercise 2
«Children» in Serbian:
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deca — a special form.
Exercise 3
Form the plural: selo, jezero, pismo, vino, leto.
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sela, jezera, pisma, vina, leta.
Exercise 4
Translate: Deca se igraju u polju. (igraju se — are playing).
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“The children are playing in the field.”
Exercise 5
In a Serbian village tri sela — what does this mean and what number is the word selo in?
Show answer
“Three villages.” After 2–4 a special form is used — it happens to look the same as the plural sela.
Lesson vocabulary
- sela села
- villages
- mora мора
- seas
- jezera језера
- lakes
- polja поља
- fields
- pismo писмо
- letter
- pisma писма
- letters
- deca деца
- children
- pilići пилићи
- chicks