Марко! — the Vocative
Serbian learning path · Unit 3 of 6
Moving Around
Lesson 31 of 63: Марко! — the Vocative · A2
Вокатив — Call people by name — Serbian still uses its seventh case.
The case of direct address
Use the vocative when calling or addressing someone. It is alive in everyday Serbian: Марко!, Јоване!, Милице!
Јоване, где си?
Jovan, where are you?
Common masculine shapes
Many consonant-final nouns take -е or -у: Петар → Петре, пријатељ → пријатељу, друг → друже. Names in -о often stay unchanged.
Марко, дођи! / Друже, хвала!
Marko, come! / Thanks, my friend!
Common feminine shapes
Many feminine names and nouns take -о or -е: госпођа → госпођо, Милица → Милице. Some names such as Ана remain Ана.
Госпођо, извините!
Excuse me, madam!
Polite address
господине and госпођо pair naturally with Ви. Titles can change too: професор → професоре.
Професоре, имам питање.
Professor, I have a question.
Put It Together
Keep the lesson goal in view: Call people by name — Serbian still uses its seventh case. Revisit the examples, then test yourself in practice.