Close your eyes for a moment - then open them. What do you see? Legs, arms, a tangle of hair. A house across the street. A tree. A chair. The verb videti (to see) is one of the very first Serbian verbs worth collecting because it reaches toward so many nouns at once: body parts, furniture, the world outside the window. And like čuti in our last listening lesson, it pulls every one of those nouns into the accusative.
Today we start with the body, then move outward into the room and the street. Two sets, two slightly different accusative behaviours, and a very satisfying moment when you notice the pattern clicks into place.
The body words - what do I see?
Our first set of nouns are all feminine, ending in -a. When they become the object of videti - when they are the thing being seen - they swap that final -a for -u. You saw exactly this with gitara and pesma in the hearing lesson.
| Nominative (dictionary form) | English | Accusative (after VIDIM) | Full sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| noga | leg / foot | nogu | Vidim nogu. |
| ruka | arm / hand | ruku | Vidim ruku. |
| kosa | hair | kosu | Vidim kosu. |
Say them one at a time. Touch each body part as you say the accusative form. Vidim nogu. Vidim ruku. Vidim kosu. The -u is a physical signal - it says "this is what my eyes are landing on."
The second set - no change needed
Now three more body words - but this time, masculine and neuter nouns that stay exactly the same in the accusative as in the nominative. No ending to add, nothing to swap. Just say the word as you find it in the dictionary.
Vidim obraz. - I see a cheek. (obraz = masculine)
Vidim nos. - I see a nose. (nos = masculine)
Vidim oko. - I see an eye. (oko = neuter)
This is the same comfortable rule we met with klavir and more: inanimate masculine nouns and neuter nouns do not change their shape in the accusative. If you keep these two groups in mind - "feminine changes, masculine inanimate and neuter stay the same" - you have the core of accusative noun behaviour for a very large number of Serbian sentences.
They see - the third-plural form with new nouns
Now we move outside - houses, trees, furniture - and we move from ja vidim (I see) to oni vide (they see). The verb changes its ending; the accusative rules on the nouns stay exactly the same.
| Nominative | English | Gender | Sentence with VIDE |
|---|---|---|---|
| kuca | house | feminine | Oni vide kucu. |
| drvo | tree | neuter | Oni vide drvo. |
| zvucnik | loudspeaker | masculine | Oni vide zvucnik. |
| kamera | video camera | feminine | Oni vide kameru. |
| stolica | chair | feminine | Oni vide stolicu. |
| sto | table | masculine | Oni vide sto. |
| dete | child | neuter | Oni vide dete. |
Three feminine nouns in the list - kuca, kamera, stolica - all gain the -u ending. The neuter and masculine inanimate nouns (drvo, zvucnik, sto, dete) stay as they are. The pattern holds perfectly.
Plural and pronunciation links
The original lesson on this topic pointed learners toward two excellent resources for going further: the Skola Srpskog site for a clear explanation of plural noun formation (because once you know singulars, plurals are the natural next step), and a dedicated Talk Group thread for pronunciation practice, where members posted audio of themselves saying the accusative forms and got kind feedback from native speakers. Both are worth exploring when you feel ready to build on what is here.
Practice - what do they see?
Look around the room where you are reading this. Pick three objects - try to include at least one feminine noun (look for things you could call a -a noun: lampa, vaza, knjiga, torba). Build a sentence for each: Oni vide ... and write it down.
Then check your accusative endings: did the feminine nouns end in -u? Did the masculine and neuter nouns stay the same? If you are not sure about the gender of a word, the Talk Group threads and the vocabulary lists on this site are a good first check - and asking is always welcome.
Frequently asked questions
Why do feminine nouns change but masculine inanimate and neuter nouns do not?
This is one of those historical quirks that you simply have to accept and eventually love. In Serbian the accusative singular of feminine nouns has always been marked with -u (replacing the nominative -a). For masculine inanimate and neuter nouns, the accusative has always been identical to the nominative - no marker needed. Masculine animate nouns (people, animals) are a special case and do change, but that is a story for another lesson.
What about plural forms - do they follow the same rules?
Plural accusative follows its own set of rules - feminine plural accusative ends in -e rather than -u, for instance. The patterns are learnable, but layering them on top of singulars all at once can be overwhelming. Master the singular accusative first, then plurals will feel like a natural extension rather than a fresh start.
Is VIDETI used the same way as CUTI - always with the accusative?
Yes - both are transitive verbs and both require a direct object in the accusative. In fact, most everyday transitive verbs in Serbian work this way: the thing being acted upon goes into the accusative. That is why learning these two verbs together is such good value.
With warm encouragement, Marina Petrovic. You are building a real vocabulary of seen and heard things, and the accusative is starting to look familiar rather than strange - I can tell. The next step is seeing how all the Serbian cases fit together as a system. When you are ready: The full guide to Serbian cases is waiting for you.