Nouns

Declension

Nouns in Serbo-Croatian change their form depending on their case and number by adding different endings. These endings differ from noun to noun, but all nouns can be separated into three distinct groups (declensions) based on their genitive singular ending. These declensions are known as a-type, e-type and i-type. Nouns belonging to one group use largely the same endings, although some variations may be observed depending on the noun’s gender.

If you know the gender and the declension of a noun, then you can determine the endings this noun uses. Luckily though, this can often be done using only the nominative singular form of the noun with the help of the following rules of thumb:

• If the noun ends in a consonant, then it is most likely an a-type masculine noun.
• If the noun ends in -e or -o, then it is almost certainly an a-type neuter noun. Most exceptions are proper male names such as Marko, Đorđe, Rade - these are a-type masculine nouns.
• If the noun ends in -a, then it is an e-type feminine noun. Note that the noun itself may actually refer to a male person such as “sudija” (“male judge”). Grammatically, however, the noun remains feminine.
• If the noun ends in a consonant and describes an abstract concept such as “ljubav” (“love”), “smrt” (“death”), “bolest” (“illness”), then it is most likely an i-type noun.

A-Type Nouns

All a-type nouns are either masculine or neuter and there are two sets of endings - one for masculine nouns and another for neuter nouns.

Unfortunately, the a-type declension is not that simple. There are many different sub-patterns within this declension because many words undergo additional changes when adding the appropriate ending.

Masculine A-Type Nouns

Masuline A-Type Endings

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ø, -o, -e	-i
Genitive	-a	-ā
Dative	-u	-ima
Accusative	= Nominative, = Genitive	-e
Vocative	-e, -u, = Nominative	= Nominative
Locative	= Dative	= Dative
Instrumental	-om, -em	= Dative

Most masculine monosyllabic and some masculine disyllabic nouns also add the infix “-ēv-” / “-ōv-” before the endings of the plural forms for the nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. Generally, the “-ēv-” infix is used when the stem ends in c, č, ć, đ, j, lj, nj, š, ž, št, and sometimes r, while the “-ōv-” infix is used the rest of the time, although exceptions do exist.

Example: Plurals with "-ēv-" / "-ēv-"

bor

Neuter A-Type Nouns

Neuter A-Type Endings

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ø, -o, -e	-a
Genitive	-a	-ā
Dative	-u	-ima
Accusative	= Nominative	= Nominative
Vocative	= Nominative	= Nominative
Locative	= Dative	= Dative
Instrumental	-om, -em	= Dative

E-Type Nouns

Almost all e-type nouns are feminine with very few which are masculine.

E-Type Endings

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-a	-e
Genitive	-e	-a
Dative	-i	-ama
Accusative	-u	-e
Vocative	-o	-e
Locative	-i	-ama
Instrumental	-om	-ama

Example: E-Type Declension

žena

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	žena	žene
Genitive	žene	žena
Dative	ženi	ženama
Accusative	ženu	žene
Vocative	ženo	žene
Locative	ženi	ženama
Instrumental	ženom	ženama

I-Type Nouns

All feminine nouns which are not e-type nouns are i-type nouns and usually denote abstract concepts such as love, death, friendship, etc.

I-Type Endings

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ø	-i
Genitive	-i	-i
Dative	-i	-ima
Accusative	= Nominative	-i
Vocative	-i	-i
Locative	-i	-ima
Instrumental	-i, -ju	-ima