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

Ovo je moja kuća. (Ово је моја кућа.)

— This is my house.

To je dobra knjiga. (То је добра књига.)

— That is a good book.

Ono je najveća zgrada. (Оно је највећа зграда.)

— That over there is the biggest building.

”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:

Ovo je knjiga. (Ово је књига.)

— This is a book. (feminine 'book')

Ovo je brat. (Ово је брат.)

— This is a brother. (masculine)

Ovo je more. (Ово је море.)

— This is a sea. (neuter)

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:

ovaj brat (овај брат)

— this brother (m.)

ova sestra (ова сестра)

— this sister (f.)

ovo more (ово море)

— this sea (n.)

Here’s the table:

Distance	m.	f.	n.
nearby	`ovaj`	`ova`	`ovo`
there	`taj`	`ta`	`to`
far away	`onaj`	`ona`	`ono`

Questions

Šta je ovo? (Шта је ово?)

— What is this?

Ko je to? (Ко је то?)

— Who is that?

Čija je ovo knjiga? (Чија је ово књига?)

— Whose is this book?

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?

Completed

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