STUDY GUIDE

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LESSON 39

GRAMMAR
VOCABULARY
PRACTICE
ANSWER KEY

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GRAMMAR
PRESENT TENSE – TI VERBS – VERB GROUP V

In today’s lesson we are going to learn the last group of the TI verbs and that is
the group V also called the STI verbs. STI verbs are a special group of TI verbs in
Serbian because of the changes that happen to the verb stem like the shift of
consonants S>D, S>T, S>Z, B>P and other changes. We recommend you learn
their verb stems by heart and study well their conjugation patterns for Present
Tense (pay especially attention to the 3rd person plural – they) because this is
going to be the base for forming their Past Tense which we will learn in future
lessons. There are not that many STI verbs as there are TI verbs in Serbian and
that is good news. We will show you the most common sound changes that occur
within this verb group. The verb stem of all STI verbs ends in -E and 3rd person
plural has the -U ending (the verb stem ending -E is omitted).

STI verbs that are similar to the verb jesti (to eat), for example verbs like: krasti
(to steal), plesti (to knit), dovesti (to bring) and so on, they get -d or -t in Present
Tense in front of the verb stem ending -E. The S from the infinitive shifts to -d or -
t in Present Tense. Consonant shift S>D. For the 3rd person plural the Present
Tense ending is -U (the verb stem ending -E is omitted) - (i.e. Oni jedu – They
eat).
In the case of our head verb jesti which means to eat, the verb stem is JEDE - the
consonant -d is added in the Present Tense before the verb stem ending -E. STI
verbs make the Present Tense by adding the endings for the Present Tense to the
verb stem. This stem is called the present verb stem because it is used for
making the Present Tense. We will refer to it simply as the verb stem in this
chapter about the Present Tense. It is not to be confused with the infinitive verb
stem, which we will learn later in the future lessons about the Past Tens e and
other tenses in Serbian.

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HEAD VERB – JESTI (TO EAT)

PRESENT TENSE ENDINGS Verb jesti – to eat (verb stem JEDE)

Present Tense Conjugation – consonant shift S>D

# Singular Plural # Singular Plural

1. 1.
-M -MO JEDEM JEDEMO
2. 2.
-Š -TE JEDEŠ JEDETE
3. 3.
/ -U JEDE JEDU

The verb jesti means to eat. For starters, we need to know the verb stem of the
verb jesti. In this case, the verb stem is jede.
Starting with the verb stem we then apply the following pattern:
For the first person (ja), we add -m to the end of the verb stem jede. When we do
this, we get jedem, which means I eat.
For the second person (ti) we add -Š to the verb stem. When we do this, we get
jedeš, which means you eat.
For the third person singular (on/ona/ono), we don’t need to add an ending, jede
stays the same. Jede means he, she, it eats.
For the first person plural (mi), we add –mo to the verb stem jede, so we end up
with jedemo, which means we eat.
For the second person plural/polite (vi) we add –te to the verb stem jede, so we
get jedete, which means you (polite) say or you (plural) eat.
For the third person plural (oni/one/ona) we substitute the -e ending of the verb
stem jede with an -u, so instead of jede we get jedu, which means they eat.

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 Notice how the third person (on/ona/ono) conjugates. The verb stem doesn’t
change. It’s simply jede. The ending of jede is an -e. The third person plural (oni/
one/ona) substitutes the -e of the verb stem with an -u, so instead of jede it’s
jedu, which means they eat.

Some STI verbs like the verbs sesti (to sit down), pasti (to fall) and sresti (to meet),
get n in Present Tense in front of the verb stem ending -E after shifting the S from
the infinitive to -d or -t. Consonant shift S>D
In the case of the verb sesti which means to sit, the verb stem is SEDNE. We see
the shift S>D. And we see that n is added in front of the verb stem ending -E. STI
verbs make the Present Tense by adding the endings for the Present Tense to the
verb stem. For the 3rd person plural the Present Tense ending is -U (the verb
stem ending -E is omitted) - (i.e. Oni sednu – They sit).

STI VERB – SESTI (TO SIT DOWN)

Verb sesti – to sit down

Present Tense Conjugation
Verb stem SEDNE + endings for Present Tense– consonant shift S>D, inserted N

Singular Plural

Person Serbian English Person Serbian English

1. ja SEDNEM I sit down 1. mi SEDNEMO we sit down

2. ti SEDNEŠ you sit 2. vi SEDNETE you (polite/all)
down sit down
3. on, ona, SEDNE He, she, it 3. oni SEDNU they sit down
ono sits down

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The verb sesti means to sit down. The verb stem for sesti is sedne. Using the same
pattern that we used for the previous verb jesti, we can conjugate this verb. How
would you say I sit down? If the verb stem is sedne, then we know for the first
person we need to add an -m to the verb stem, giving us sednem, so Ja sednem
means I sit down.
How would you say We sit down? Mi sednemo. Since the verb stem is sedne, we
add the –mo ending for the first person plural (mi), giving us sednemo, so mi
sednemo means we sit down.
Ja sednem – I sit down
Ti sedneš – You sit down
On/ona/ono sedne – He/she/it sits down
Mi sednemo – We sit down
Vi sednete – You (polite) or you (plural) sit down
Oni/one/ona sednu – They sit down

Some STI verbs like the verbs gristi (to bite), zepsti (to be cold, to freeze) and
grepsti (to scratch), will have other consonant changes in Present Tense in front
of the verb stem ending -E.
In the case of the verb gristi which means to bite, the verb stem is GRIZE. We see
the shift from s to z. The verb stem ending is -E. Consonant shift S>Z. STI verbs
make the Present Tense by adding the endings for the Present Tense to the verb
stem. For the 3rd person plural the Present Tense ending is -U (the verb stem
ending -E is omitted) - (i.e. Oni grizu – They bite).

Study Guide 5
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STI VERB – GRISTI (TO BITE)

Verb gristi – to bite

Present Tense Conjugation
Verb stem GRIZE + endings for Present Tense – consonant shift S>Z
Singular Plural

Person Serbian English Person Serbian English

1. ja GRIZEM I bite 1. mi GRIZEMO we bite

2. ti GRIZEŠ you sit bite 2. vi GRIZETE you (polite/all)

bite
3. on, ona, GRIZE He, she, it
ono bites 3. oni GRIZU they bite

The most important thing to remember is that the group V verb stem ends with
JE, and for the 3rd person plural the verb stem ending -E is omitted, and we add
the -U ending for the Simple Present Tense. For most STI verbs consonants shift in
front of the verb stem ending -E and they can be S>D, S>T, S>Z, P>B…etc. Some
STI verbs might add n before the verbs stem ending -E.
We recommend you learn the full conjugations of STI verbs along with their verb
stems since there is no one rule that applies to all of them. Think of STI verbs as
the “exception” group of TI verbs.

As a reminder, in the Grammar Tools section of our website you will find a list of
verbs with their full conjugations and verb stems to help you get started. We are
constantly updating this list for your convenience. Make sure you check it out!

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VOCABULARY
GROUP V

Serbian English Verb Stem

jesti to eat JEDE
sesti to sit down SEDNE

ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY

Serbian English Verb Stem

krasti to steal KRADE
plesti to knit PLETE
dovesti to bring DOVEDE
sresti to meet, to run into somebody SRETNE
pasti to fall PADNE
sesti to sit down SEDNE
gristi to bite GRIZE
zepsti to be cold, to freeze ZEBE
grepsti to scratch GREBE

LESSON EXAMPLES

Serbian English
Ja jedem I eat
Ti sedneš You sit down
On jede He eats
Ona sedne She sits down

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 Ono jede It eats
Mi sednemo We sit down
Vi jedete You eat
Oni sednu They (masculine) sit down
One jedu They (feminine) eat
Ona sednu They (neuter) sit down

PRACTICE
EXCERCISE #1
Choose the correct form of the verb:
Serbian Present Tense
1. Ti jedeš (example) jedem/jedeš/jedemo

2. Mi_________ sednem/sednu/sednemo
3. Oni _________ jedu/jedete/jedem
4. Vi_________ sednemo/sednete/sedneš
5. Ja _________ jedemo/jedem/jedete
6. On _________ sednemo/sedneš/sedne
7. One _________ sedneš/sednu/sednemo
8. Ti _________ sednemo/sedneš/sednu
9. Ona _________ jede/jedeš/jedu
10. Mi _________ jedem/jedemo/jedu

EXERCISE #2
Translate into English:

# Serbian English
1. Ona jede svaki dan She eats every day (example)
2. Ja jedem sve

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 # Serbian English
3. Mi sednemo ovde
4. Oni jedu nešto
5. Vi sednete sada
6. Ti jedeš sve
7. On sedne tamo
8. Ja sednem sada

EXCERCISE #3
Match the sentences with the right form of the verb:
Sentence Verb Answer
1. Oni jedu sve a) sednemo (example) 1e)
2. Ti_______ sada b) jedem
3. Mi ______ danas c) sedne
4. Ja ______ svaki dan d) jede
5. Vi _______ sve e) jedu
6. Ona ______ ovde f) sednu
7. On ______ nešto g) jedete
8. Oni ______ tamo h) sedneš

ANSWER KEY
EXCERCISE #1
(The answer is underlined and in bold)
Choose the correct form of the verb:
Serbian Present Tense
1. Ti jedeš (example) jedem/jedeš/jedemo
2. Mi sednemo sednem/sednu/sednemo

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 Serbian Present Tense
3. Oni jedu jedu/jedete/jedem

4. Vi sednete sednemo/sednete/sedneš
5. Ja jedem jedemo/jedem/jedete
6. On sedne sednemo/sedneš/sedne
7. One sednu sedneš/sednu/sednemo
8. Ti sedneš sednemo/sedneš/sednu
9. Ona jede jede/jedeš/jedu
10. Mi jedemo jedem/jedemo/jedu

EXERCISE #2
Translate into English:

# Serbian English
1. Ona jede svaki dan She eats every day (example)
2. Ja jedem sve I eat everything
3. Mi sednemo ovde We sit here
4. Oni jedu nešto They eat something
5. Vi sednete sada You are sitting now
6. Ti jedeš sve You eat everything
7. On sedne tamo He sits there
8. Ja sednem sada I am sitting now

EXCERCISE #3
Match the sentences with the right form of the verb:
Sentence Verb Answer
1. Oni jedu sve a) sednemo (example) 1e)
2. Ti sedneš sada b) jedem 2h)
3. Mi sednemo danas c) sedne 3a)

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 Sentence Verb Answer
4. Ja jedem svaki dan d) jede 4b)
5. Vi jedete sve e) jedu 5g)
6. Ona sedne ovde f) sednu 6c)
7. On jede nešto g) jedete 7d)
8. Oni sednu tamo h) sedneš 8f)

Great job! Ćao, drugari!

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