Lesson 49. Nominative with Adjectives

You already know that colours and adjectives agree with nouns. Time to look at this more carefully.

Adjective Endings in the Nominative

Two Forms: Short and Long

In masculine singular, there are often two forms: short (dobar) and long (dobri). The difference is subtle:

• dobar brat — “a good brother” (indefinite, some brother).
• dobri brat — “the good brother” (definite, the one you know).

Russian doesn’t have this. For now, learn both forms — you’ll understand the pattern with experience. In school conversation, you can use either.

Examples

If the Word Ends in a Soft Consonant

Some adjectives end in a soft consonant (-nji, -šnji):

They behave the same way: -i / -a / -o.

Comparative Forms

A quick introduction (more details in Part 6):

• veliki (big) → veći (bigger) → najveći (biggest).
• dobar (good) → bolji (better) → najbolji (best).
• mali (small) → manji (smaller) → najmanji (smallest).

Exercises

Exercise 1

"Big lake" (jezero — neuter):

veliki jezero A velika jezero B veliko jezero C

Show explanation

Neuter singular → -o. veliko jezero.

Exercise 2

"Red apples" (jabuka — feminine):

crveni jabuke A crvene jabuke B crvena jabuke C

Show explanation

Feminine plural → -e. crvene jabuke.

Exercise 3

Fill in the correct form of veliki: ___ pas, ___ kuća, ___ more, ___ deca.

Show answer

veliki pas, velika kuća, veliko more, velika deca (the last one is feminine singular in grammar because deca).

Exercise 4

Translate: “My younger sister is the best” (mlađa — younger).

Show answer

Moja mlađa sestra je najbolja.

Exercise 5

What’s the difference between dobar brat and dobri brat?

Show answer

dobar — indefinite form (“some good brother”); dobri — definite (“the good brother”). Subtle — in school speech you can use either.

Lesson vocabulary

dobar добар

хороший (м.р.)

dobra добра

хорошая

dobro добро

хорошее

mali мали

маленький

bolji бољи

лучше

najbolji најбољи

самый лучший

veći већи

больше

prošli прошли

прошлый