|
Serbian prepositions
(PDF version)
Unlike nouns, pronouns and adjectives prepositions do not
change their form. In linguistic jargon, they are
‘undeclinable’ or uninflected. So, one less thing to worry
about.
The following is an alphabetical list of Serbian
prepositions and cases they require on their noun phrase
objects (shown as a subscript).
For instance, bezgen
means that the preposition
bez ‘without’ requires a genitive noun
that follows it; nadacc ,ins
means that preposition
nad ‘above’
requires either a noun in the accusative or the instrumental
case. For examples, see Table 2 below.
Please use Table 1 below together with
noun-declension classes, to help you choose
the right noun case endings after the prepositions.
The abbreviations of cases are as follows:
| nom
(nominative) |
dat (dative)
|
loc (locative)
|
|
gen (genitive)
|
acc (accusative)
|
ins (instrumental)
|
One generalization that can be observed from looking at
this table is that majority of the prepositions require
genitive case (written in red), and only a few (in green)
require other cases. So, if you’re not sure what case to use
after a preposition, your most probable guess is the
genitive case.
Table 1: List of Serbian prepositions and cases they
require on their noun objects
|
Serbian |
English
|
Serbian
|
English
|
|
bezgen
|
without
|
poredgen
|
beside, near
|
|
blizugen
|
near
|
poslegen |
after
|
|
dogen
|
to, until
|
posredgen
|
in the midst, amid
|
|
dovrhgen
|
on top
|
potkrajgen |
at the end of
|
|
dužgen
|
along
|
povišegen
|
above, atop
|
|
ispodgen
|
under
|
povodomgen
|
on that account
|
|
ispredgen
|
in front of
|
povrhgen |
above, atop
|
|
izgen
|
from
|
pozadiggen
|
behind
|
|
izagen
|
behind
|
pregen
|
before
|
|
izmeđugen
|
between
|
predacc,ins |
before, in front of
|
|
iznadgen
|
above
|
prekogen |
above, over, beyond
|
|
izvangen
|
outside of, beyond
|
premadat,loc |
toward, against
|
|
k(a)dat
|
toward
|
priloc |
at, over, by
|
|
kodgen
|
at
|
prilikomgen
|
on the occasion of
|
|
krajgen
|
by
|
protivgen
|
against
|
|
krajemgen
|
at the end of
|
putgen
|
course, way
|
|
krozacc
|
through
|
putemgen
|
by means of, via
|
|
međuacc,ins
|
among, between
|
radigen
|
because, for the sake of
|
|
mestogen
|
instead
|
s(a)gen,ins |
with, by
|
|
mimogen
|
beyond, outside of
|
saglasnodat |
in accordance with
|
|
naacc,loc
|
on, at
|
semgen
|
except
|
|
nadacc,ins
|
on top of, above, over
|
shodnodat |
in conformity with
|
|
nadohvatgen
|
within the reach of, close to.
|
silomgen
|
by force, under compulsion
|
|
nadomakgen,dat
|
near, close to
|
sličnogen
|
similar, like
|
|
nakongen
|
after, behind, past
|
sredgen |
midst, in the middle
|
|
nakrajgen
|
at the end of
|
sredinomgen
|
midst, in the middle
|
|
namestogen
|
instead of, in place of
|
suprotnodat |
opposite, contrary
|
|
naspramgen
|
towards, against
|
tokomgen
|
during, for
|
|
nasredgen
|
in the middle of, amid,
|
ugen,acc,loc |
in
|
|
nasuprotgen,acc |
against, opposite
|
uinatdat |
despite, in defiance to
|
|
navrhgen |
on top of
|
umestogen
|
instead
|
|
nizacc
|
downwards
|
unutargen
|
inside, within
|
|
nižegen
|
below
|
uočigen
|
shortly before, on the eve of
|
|
oacc,loc
|
about
|
uprkosgen,dat |
despite, in spite
|
|
odgen
|
from
|
usledgen
|
due to, owing to
|
|
okogen
|
around, about
|
usredgen
|
amid, in the middle of
|
|
okologen
|
around, about
|
uvrhgen |
at the top of
|
|
osimgen
|
except
|
uzacc |
beside, along
|
|
poacc,loc
|
per, by
|
uzdužgen
|
along, alongside
|
|
podacc,ins |
under
|
vangen
|
outside
|
|
pokrajgen
|
by, beside
|
višegen
|
above, over
|
|
podnogen
|
under
|
vrhgen
|
on the top
|
|
pokrajgen
|
beside, alongside
|
zagen,acc,dat |
for, after
|
|
pomoćugen
|
by means of
|
zarad(i)gen
|
because of
|
|
poputgen
|
like
|
zboggen |
because of
|
Here are some examples of prepositions used in sentences.
The case on the noun is indicated using a subscript. The
first three examples show prepositions that take only the
genitive case. The remaining examples show prepositions that
can take more than one case. Make sense?
Table 2: Some examples of Serbian prepositions used in
sentences
|
Serbian |
English |
|
Ona ne može da živi bez Milanagen.
|
She cannot live without Milan.
|
|
Marija živi daleko od gradagen.
|
Maria lives far from the city.
|
|
On ide ispred Zoricegen.
|
He’s walking in front of Zorica.
|
|
On se popeo na kućuacc.
|
He climbed on the house.
|
|
Nema broja na kućiins
|
There’s no number on the house.
|
|
Mačka se sakrila pod stolicuacc.
|
The cat is hiding under the chair.
|
|
Mačka spava pod stolicomins
|
A cat is sleeping under the chair.
|
|
On ide prema prozorudat
|
He’s going toward the window.
|
|
On sedi prema prozorudat
|
He’s sitting against the window.
|
|
Marija se udala za Jovanaacc.
|
Maria married Jovan.
|
|
Marija putuje za Beogradacc
|
Maria is traveling to Belgrade
|
|
Jovan čeka Mariju za uglomins.
|
Jovan is waiting for Maria around/at the corner
|
|
