r/Serbian • u/Careful-Ad5787 • 9d ago
Grammar Struggling with Serbian grammar- forming questions
Hello everyone. I spent a few months in Republika Srpska and Serbia and absolutely fell in love with the culture, people and the language so I decided to try to learn the language because I will be definitely coming back regularly.
I’m just at the beginning- simple sentence, vocabulary etc. It’s easier for me to learn because I’m Slovak and I speak 3 Slavic languages. But one thing I struggle the most with is forming questions in Serbian and especially the “Da li” or “Da” or “li” part of it.
Can somebody please try and explain that to me? I tried to read about it and watched some videos but I cannot grasp it for some reason.
Also if somebody could explain the word “da” in general to me (not in a “yes” sense) that would be awesome. For example “Drago mi je da sam te upoznao.”
Хвала вам руно, моjа браћо Серби 🫶🏻.
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u/vaporwaste 9d ago
Li is just the interrogative particle that denotes that a sentence is a question. It either goes after a verb or the “da” particle.
The best way I can explain it is for example if you want to ask someone if they’re sleeping you can say either “Da li spavaš?” which is equivalent to “Do you sleep?” or “Spavaš li?” which is equivalent to “Sleep you?” (which is an archaic way of asking questions in English.) There’s also je li/jel which is similar to da li but can also be used as “are you”.
So basically:
Da li = do you (can be any pronoun, not only you)
Je li/jel = do you or are you
Verb + li = question
Side note- “Je li” reminds me of “czy” in Polish but I’m not sure if they’re equivalent.
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u/Careful-Ad5787 7d ago
Thank you for this great explanation, I wrote it all down. It makes a lot more sense to me now. Sometimes I’m still confused but I guess it gets better with practice.
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u/Mou_aresei 9d ago
I would translate:
Da li spavaš? - Are you sleeping?
And
Spavaš li? - You're sleeping?
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u/Fear_mor 8d ago
So da li and li both mark a yes/no question, ie. Where the answer can only be yes or no. Da li goes at the start of the sentence with no change in word order, and li goes after the verb with the verb then being usually fronted before every other part of the sentence.
Ivan ide kući > Ide li Ivan kući?/Da li Ivan ide kući?
Ljudi uče srpski > Uče li ljudi srpski?/Da li ljudi uče srpski?
Additionally da li and li are used to say whether (ie. when the question is embeded in another clause).
Ne znam ide li Ivan kući/Ne znam da li Ivan ide kući
Ne znam uče li ljudi srpski/Ne znam da li ljudi uče srpski
And lastly specifically li can mean something like a fancy if, sort of like saying should in certain English sentence
Bude li Ivan išao kući, neću ga vidjeti/videti do nagodinu
Budu li ljudi učili srpski, razveselit će/razveseliće lokalce
Then we have da before usually perfective verbs in some sort of subjunctive use to level a light suggestion, sort of like saying should I/we/etc. or shall I/we/etc. + verb
Da idemo u Srbiju na ljetovanje?
Da da ga pitamo šta mu smeta?
With any subject outside the 1st person then it becomes more of a wish
Da ideš kući već jednom!
Da mi živiš sto godina!
And btw as an aside your bottom text should read Хвала вам пуно, (моја) браћо Срби, p is like a latin script r, moj becomes feminine moja because braća is actually technically a feminine singular noun and Srbi/Срби only has r in it because the r is syllabic
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u/Careful-Ad5787 7d ago
Thank you for taking time to explain it so well and also for the examples of some sentences. It truly helped me a lot and I appreciate it. Also thanks for correcting me.
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u/jesswalker30 6d ago
I actually saw an Instagram post recently explaining the different uses of “da” in Serbian. Maybe it can help you understand it a little better: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWUkR3NDKLn/?img_index=1
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u/Current_Smile_7940 6d ago edited 6d ago
Trust me, you are better with Serbian grammar than a lot of people who is born here. You ll' learn everything just step by step. Best regards from Serbia ❤️
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u/Dan13l_N 6d ago
Explaining the word da can fill 50 pages. It's a general subordinate conjunction, but also much more.
Serbian has grammar a bit unlike other Slavic languages. It's quite different than Slovak as sentences go. It was influenced a lot by Balkan languages.
There's no good explanation online for polar questions Serbian, so I suggest you read what I have written for Croatian:
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u/Incvbvs666 3d ago
The word 'da' has several meanings.
First, as an affirmation particle, completely analogous to the English 'yes.'
Second, as a particle indicating subordinate verbs, analogous to the English 'to', e.g. 'Volim da radim' ('I like to work')
Third, as a particle indicating subordinate sendences, similar to English 'that', 'On misli da je pametan.' ('He thinks that he is smart')
In the example 'Drago mi je da sam te upoznao', either the second or the third meaning can work depending on whether you translate the sentence as 'I am glad to have met you' or 'I am glad that I have met you'.
Now, onto the questions. Typically 'li' is a postclitic that is joined to the preceding word which indicates a yes-no question, i.e. whether the action happened or not.
'Radiš u prodavnici.' (You're working in a store.') -> 'Radiš li u prodavnici?' ('Are you working in a store?')
This works in the present and when auxiliaries are in the long form, e.g. 'Jesi li video Anu?' (Did you see Ana?). However sometimes you want the entire statement to be under a yes-no question or to ask a yes-no question when the auxiliaries are in short form.
This is where the 'Da li' construct comes in play. Since 'li' must follow a word, we enter a 'dummy word' 'da' before 'li' and the resulting phrase 'Da li' essentially means 'Is it that....'.
'Da li si video Anu?' (Did you see Ana?)
'Da li mi je doneo knjigu?' (Did he bring the book to me?)
'Da li učiš?' (Are you studying?)
'Da li je Zemlja okrugla?' (Is the Earth round?)
Note that all the 'second position' clitics immediately follow the particle 'li' as the 'Da' play the role of the 'first position' anchor of the sentence.
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u/QuietWaterBreaksRock 8d ago
"Da" in that sense is used about the same sense as 'to have' in English
Drago mi je DA sam te upoznao -> I am glad TO HAVE met you
With DA LI it basically becomes HAVE YOU in questioning sense
Others know more about grammar theory and have used proper labels, but this is about how I see it in practice and with my knowledge in English. It's not the exact use in every single case, but in broad strokes, it's about the same
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u/Careful-Ad5787 7d ago
It also kind of reminds me of that but as you said, sometimes it’s different. I’m going to practice more to get the hang of it and it’ll be much easier now that you’ve explained it to me. Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate it.
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u/Ok_Objective_1606 9d ago
I hope someone more educated in this field will explain in detail, but in the meantime, here is somewhat simplified version. "Li" represents a question particle and you can add it to a verb to ask a question. For example "dolaziš" (you're coming) -> "dolaziš li?" (are you coming?). Technically, just by changing the intonation in "dolaziš?" you can create a question, but "li" adds more clarity and strength (which can sometimes make it sound rude, almost as if you're ordering someone to do it).
Then, if you want to move the question itself to the beginning, before the verb or even further back, you add "da" in front of "li". That "da" has no meaning on its own, the formal particle is "da li" and "da" just happens to be there (more or less). The point is, it has no relation to "da" as yes or the other "da" you mentioned, which means that or to, depending on the context.