In previous blog posts, we already covered present tense singular and plural endings, and in today’s lesson, we will focus on the Serbian present stem and 3 verb groups. Don’t worry, I will guide you every step of the way.
How do we form the Serbian present stem?
For most verbs, the Serbian present stem is formed by removing the ending -MO from the first person plural.
Please note that the present stem may sometimes change.
Would you like to skip this rule? Sounds great? I have a solution: make a list of the most common Serbian verbs and their present stems and try to memorize them.
Now it’s time to move on to the next piece of the puzzle- verb groups.
Verb group 1 (- a verbs)
Are you wondering what –a verbs are? Verbs in this group have a present stem that ends in -a.
Verb group 2 (-i verbs)
There are two more verb groups, but we will introduce them one at a time. Have you read the -a verb group explanation above? Can you guess what –i verbs are? Look at the images below and try to complete the definition.
Did you write -i on the line? Well done! And the next verb group is…
Verb group 3 (-e verbs)
Verbs in this verb group have a present stem ending in -e. This verb group is tricky. Why? Well, many of these verbs have a change in the present stem. Here is one of those verbs.
What is the best way to memorize the Serbian present stems? Have you copied the list of the most common verbs and their stems? Each day, choose 5 verbs you will focus on. Read the verbs and their stems. Grab a pen and a notebook, rewrite the verbs, but not in the same order; mix them up a bit. Now try to write the correct stems.
Let’s bake the present tense cake
If you want to bake the present tense cake, learning about the verb groups is super important. Why? Don’t worry. We will talk about this more in one of my future posts.
Let’s resume what we have learned today:
- How to form the present stem?
- Can we skip the rule above?
- What is the best way to memorize the present stems quickly?
- What are -a/-i/-e verb groups?
I want this learning process to be as simple and effective as possible; this is why I think it is time to finish today’s lesson.
Would you like to learn more about the Serbian present tense? Check out my Serbian Present Tense Worksheets (Prezent) I A1-A2 Grammar for Beginners.
Happy learning!
