Every rule, side by side
Each point in German and in Serbian, with the forms to learn and what trips English speakers up. In the order the course teaches them.
Chapter 1 · First steps
- Friendly and polite “you”A friendly and a polite "you" in both languages, who gets which, and what each one does to the verb.
- Ich bin, ja samThe verb "to be" in every person: German always says the pronoun, Serbian has short, long and negative forms.
- Aus der Schweiz, iz SrbijeWhere you're from and where you live, the countries that need an article, and the words for people and languages.
- Second place is specialGerman puts its verb second; Serbian puts its short, unstressed words second.
- Three genders that rarely agreeMasculine, feminine and neuter in both languages, shown on the article in German and on the ending in Serbian, and seldom the same.
- Sprichst du …? Da li govoriš …?Asking questions: German moves the verb to the front, Serbian adds da li or li, and both have a set of question words.
- Ich lerne, učimThe present tense: one set of endings in German, three families in Serbian, and one form for I learn and I'm learning.
Chapter 2 · Numbers
- One coffee, two coffeesWhat happens to a noun after a number: German asks one or more, Serbian asks one, a few or many.
- Twenty-one or one-and-twentyGerman says the ones before the tens, in one word; Serbian says them in the English order.
- To have, and how old you areHaben and imati in full, and why German is its age while Serbian has it.
- Zweihundert, dvestaThe hundreds and a thousand, and how to say a price in euros, francs and dinars.
Chapter 3 · People
- Mein, meine; moj, moja, mojeThe owner picks the word and the thing owned picks the ending, in German and in Serbian alike.
- Jonase! Bako! Calling someoneSerbian changes a name or a title when you speak to that person; German leaves it as it is.
- I am teacherGerman and Serbian both leave out the article before a job, and both give a woman her own form of nearly every job.
- Groß stays groß, visok changesAfter "to be", German adjectives never change; Serbian ones agree with the person or thing.
- Und, aber; i, a, aliGerman's linking words leave the word order alone; Serbian has an extra "and", a, for setting two things side by side.
- Es gibt, imaGerman says "it gives" and Serbian "it has" for "there is"; for "there isn't", German adds kein and Serbian switches to nema.
Chapter 4 · Markets and meals
- Einen Kaffee, jednu kafuThe object of a verb takes the accusative, marked on the masculine article in German and on the noun's ending in Serbian.
- Die Äpfel, jabukePlurals: German learns them word by word, Serbian follows the gender.
- A kilo ofAfter a quantity, German simply adds the noun; Serbian puts it in the genitive, the case for "of".
- Liking, and saying noGerman mag, gern and möchte, nicht and kein; Serbian volim and volim da, and ne.
- Du isst, ti jedešEating, drinking and ordering: German verbs that change their vowel, Serbian verbs with a stem of their own.
Chapter 5 · In town
- Im Park, u parkuWhere something is, marked on the article in German and on the noun's ending in Serbian.
- Next to, behind, oppositeSaying what is next to what, with the dative in German and the genitive in Serbian.
- Gehen Sie! Idite!Telling someone what to do, politely or to a friend, and saying don't and let's.
- Nach Hause, kućiWhere you're going: German nach, zu and in; Serbian u and na with the accusative; the way home; and two verbs for know.
Chapter 6 · My day
- Halb vier, pola četiriTelling the time, where both languages count the half hour towards the next hour.
- Ich stehe auf, budim seGerman separable verbs and Serbian se-verbs, where in both languages a little word moves.
- Am Montag, u ponedeljakThe days of the week and the parts of the day, and how each language says "on" a day.
Chapter 7 · Free time
- Oft, čestoHow often you do something, where that word goes, never in each language, and the verbs for playing.
- Ich kann, moguCan, must, may, should and want with a second verb, and the difference between don't have to and mustn't.
- Kommst du mit? Dolaziš li?Inviting, saying yes or no kindly, birthday wishes, and the host's friendly orders.
- Ich habe gekocht, kuvala samThe spoken past: German haben and a participle at the end, Serbian biti and an l-form that shows who did it.
Chapter 8 · On the move
- Mit dem Zug, vozomHow you travel, who with, and where from: the German dative and the Serbian instrumental.
- Am ersten Mai, prvog majaOrdinal numbers, dates and the months, with the ending that changes when you say on a date.
- Es regnet, pada kišaWeather without a real subject, temperatures, the seasons, and saying you're cold.
- Ich bin gefahren, putovala samThe past of going, arriving and staying: German sein, Serbian biti as always.
Chapter 9 · Clothes and colours
- Die Hose passt, pantalone su noveWearing, putting on and taking off, clothes counted as one or as a pair, and saying what fits and suits you.
- Welche Farbe? Koje boje?Colours after is: German leaves them alone, Serbian makes them agree; and the question each language asks.
- Dieser, ovajThis one, that one and which one, too big, and a few ready-made words for cheaper and bigger.
- Ich nehme ihn, uzimam gaMe, you, him, her, it and them as objects, picked by the gender of the thing you mean.
Chapter 10 · A trip
- Ich möchte, želeo bihAsking politely for a room or a favour, the would-forms to learn as phrases, and saying something doesn't work.
- Am Meer, ans Meer; na moru, na moreWhere you are against where you're heading: German picks the dative or the accusative, Serbian the locative or the accusative.
- Zuerst, dann, zum SchlussPutting a story in order in the past, and missing someone.