Lesson 39. This and That: ovo, to, ono
In Serbian, three little words replace Russian “this” and “that”: ovo, to, ono. With them, you can talk about any object or person right away.
Three Distances
”This/That” — Don’t Change
When ovo, to, ono stand as the predicate (“this is…”, “that is…”), they don’t change by gender. They’re the same in every sentence:
The word ovo doesn’t change here because it doesn’t describe the object—it just points to it.
What if They Describe?
Then they change by gender, just like possessives:
Here’s the table:
| Distance | m. | f. | n. |
|---|---|---|---|
| nearby | ovaj | ova | ovo |
| there | taj | ta | to |
| far away | onaj | ona | ono |
Questions
šta — what, ko — who, čija — whose.
Exercises
Exercise 1
«This is my sister» — which is correct?
Show explanation
In the position «this is…», the word ovo doesn’t change. But sestra is feminine, so moja.
Exercise 2
«This city» (close by) — which?
Show explanation
grad is masculine «nearby» → ovaj grad.
Exercise 3
Translate: Šta je to?
Show answer
«What is that (there)?»
Exercise 4
Name 3 objects in Serbian: a book, a house, a sea.
Show answer
— Ovo je knjiga.
— Ovo je kuća.
— Ovo je more.
Exercise 5
How do you ask «Who are you?» in Serbian?
Show answer
Ko si ti? (Ко си ти?)
Lesson vocabulary
- ovo (ово)
- — this (nearby)
- to (то)
- — that, this (there)
- ono (оно)
- — that over there (far)
- ovaj (овај)
- — this (m.)
- onaj (онај)
- — that (m., far)
- ona (она)
- — that (f., far)
- šta? (шта?)
- — what?
- ko? (ко?)
- — who?
- čija? (чија?)
- — whose?