Lesson 54. Accusative: Masculine Animate
The Main Rule
Nom. → Acc. (Animate)
| Nom. | Acc. | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| brat | brat | brata | Vidim brata. |
| pas | pas | psa | Volim psa. |
| konj | konj | konja | Jaše konja. |
| učitelj | učitelj | učitelja | Gledam učitelja. |
| student | student | studenta | Vidim studenta. |
| otac | otac | oca | Volim oca. |
Why Is It This Way?
When a word refers to something living, Serbs (like Russians) want to show that it is “active”. So the accusative looks like the genitive. Non-living words don’t get this “respect” — they stay in the nominative form.
Examples
The Preposition na and Animate
Vidim konja. = “I see a horse” (animate accusative).
Idem na konja. — rarely used; usually idem prema konju and others. Remember: animate accusative = +a.
Exercises
Exercise 1
Accusative of `brat`:
Show answer
Answer: brata
Exercise 2
'I'm waiting for a friend':
Show explanation
prijatelj → prijatelja (animate +a).
Exercise 3
Put in the accusative: brat, konj, pas, otac, student, petao.
Show answer
brata, konja, psa, oca, studenta, petla. (Fleeting ‘a’ in pas → psa, otac → oca, petao → petla.)
Exercise 4
Translate: “I see my brother and my father”.
Show answer
Vidim brata i oca.
Exercise 5
Why does Vidim sto have no ending, but Vidim brata has -a?
Show answer
sto — non-animate (thing), accusative = nominative; brat — animate, accusative = genitive (with -a).
Lesson vocabulary
- čekati (чекати)
- — to wait
- poznavati (познавати)
- — to know (a person)
- nastavnik (наставник)
- — teacher
- brata (брата)
- — brother (acc.)
- konja (коња)
- — horse (acc.)