Written by: Milica Antović, adapted by Milica Bokšan
Understanding Serbian word order can be challenging.
But don’t worry, we wrote this blog post to clear up any potential confusion!
So, can you imagine life without stress? Sounds amazing, but impossible? It is possible, but believe me, you wouldn’t like that. No one would like you, at least according to the transcript from one therapeutic session. 😀
Let’s have a look together:
Patient: Nobody likes me! Students avoid me! Teachers don’t like talking about me, and I am almost always stuck in the second place! I can never be the first. I am so tired…
Therapist: I see. That sounds difficult. Why do you think students have such behavior when it comes to you?
Patient: They say I am unpredictable. They say I am a troublemaker, but it is not my fault. I only follow the rules… Can you help me? Is there any hope?
Can you guess who our little patient was? A small clue – life without stress was mentioned before.
Meet Serbian’s unstressed words – the quiet companions that never take the lead, yet cause so much trouble for people who want to learn Serbian!
As you might have read in our previous article, the Serbian word order is a loose one and it has some strict rules about our little patient, the unstressed word.
If you’ve ever struggled with these little troublemakers, keep reading – things are about to get much clearer!
Serbian Word Order: Unstressed Words
These are small words that cannot stand alone.
They are called clitics. They do not have their own stress, but they can cause much stress to people who want to learn Serbian.
Clitics in Serbian appear before or after their host.
Think of them as linguistic hitchhikers, riding along with a neighbouring word!
Clitics in Serbian can be categorised into two types depending on their position:
Before its host (proclitics):
- negative NE
- prepositions (mostly one-syllable prepositions like u, na, o, od…)
- some conjunctions (i, ni, a)
After its host (enclitics):
- the question word LI (Da li znaš Petra Petrovića?)
- unstressed forms of the verbs jesam (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su), hteti (ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će), biti (bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi)
- short forms of pronouns (genitive: me, te, ga, ju / je, nas, vas, ih; dative: mi, ti, mu, joj, nam, vam, im; accusative: me, te, ga, je, nas, vas, ih)
- the word SE
The first group is not complicated at all: they always go before the word they determine:
Marija ne ide na letovanje. (= Maria is not going on vacation.)
↙ ↘
ne + verb na + noun in accusative
Serbian Word Order: The Unstressed Words After Their Host
Now, here’s where things get interesting. Serbian unstressed words have some strict rules about where they can and cannot appear in a sentence. Let’s have a look at these rules:
Where unstressed words cannot stand?
- They cannot be at the very beginning of a sentence. (irregular version: *Se zovem Marko).
The only exception is je, which can appear at the start of a question (Je li Stefan došao?).
- They cannot come right after a pause or punctuation mark. (incorrect version: Ja sam šetao, *sam išao u prodavnicu.)
- They cannot follow a preposition. (incorrect version: Ja u *sam kuću ušla).
- If they follow a verb, they cannot be separated from it by another word. (incorrect version: Došao *kolima sam.)
If these situations happen, we move the word to a different position in the sentence or replace it with its full form.
Here’s how these incorrect sentences should be written:
Se zovem Marko → Zovem se Marko. (= My name is Marko.)
Ja sam šetao, sam išao u prodavnicu. → Ja sam šetao, išao sam u prodavnicu. (= I was walking, I was going to the store.)
Ja u sam kuću ušla. → Ja sam ušla u kuću. (= I entered a house.)
Došao kolima sam. → Došao sam kolima. (= I came by car.)
Serbian Word Order: Where Unstressed Words Can Stand?
- In most cases, they take the second position in a sentence or the second position after a pause.
Nisam ga video. (= I haven’t seen him.)
- They appear immediately after the verb.
Moj dobar prijatelj Petar išao je u Indiju prošle godine. (= My good friend Petar went to India last year.)
Serbian Word Order: Where Unstressed Words Must Stand?
- They follow conjunctions (except i, ni, a).
Marija se presvukla da se ne uprlja. (= Maria changed her clothes so she wouldn’t get dirty.)
- They must also follow question words and relative pronouns.
Koji je danas dan? (= What day is it today?)
Kada ćete moći da počnete da radite? (= When will you be able to start working?)
- The word li always takes the second position in a sentence:
Stižeš li? (= Are you coming?)
Jeste li gladni? (= Are you hungry?)
Ko li to zvoni? (= Who’s that ringing?)
Serbian Word Order: Multiple Unstressed Words in Sentences
When several unstressed words appear in a sentence, they follow the strict word order.
You can’t mix them up or shuffle them around. When you grasp the pattern, your sentences will flow more naturally!
| LI | unstressed forms of the verbs (except je) | short forms of pronouns in dative | short forms of pronouns in accusative | short forms of pronouns in genitive | SE | je / or negative neću, nisam, ne bih |
Let’s look at some sentences:
● Kako te se ne sećam? (= How’s that I don’t remember you?)
We start a sentence with the question word kako, then use the short form of the pronoun in accusative te and then se.
● Da li si mu je dao? (= Did you give it to him?)
The question word li is in the second position followed by the unstressed form of the verb si, then the unstressed form of the pronoun in dative mu and in accusative je.
● Dao mu ih je. (= He gave them to him.)
First comes the unstressed form of the pronoun in dative mu, then in accusative ih and then the short form of the verb je.
● Ana se ne bi pokajala ako bi kupila taj auto. (= Ana wouldn’t regret buying that car.)
The unstressed word se is in the second position, followed by the negative form of the verb ne bi.
How to Memorise All These Rules?
The key is to pay attention to how native speakers use them: in conversations, books, songs, or TV shows.
Try reading a sentence out loud with unstressed words in different positions. Some placements would sound right, while others would maybe feel awkward. Over time, it will become second nature to you.
If you want to learn Serbian word order more in depth, with lots of exercises check out our Serbian Pre-Intermediate (A2.1) course! It’s one of the biggest topics in this self-study course.
Now, try to solve this little puzzle – put the words in the right order:
je, dala, sam, ti, da, se, ne, sećam
