The instrumental is the form used for means, accompaniment, routes, certain stationary spatial relations, repeated time, and complements of particular verbs. This page concentrates on building the forms: noun endings, adjective agreement, stem changes, pronouns, and the plural overlap with dative and locative. The usage chapters explain when each meaning is chosen.
English does not inflect “with a new colleague” or “by fast train.” Serbian changes every agreeing word: са новом колегиницом and брзим возом. Learn the whole phrase rather than attaching one ending to a noun in isolation.
Core noun and adjective endings
The table gives representative contemporary standard forms. “Soft” is a practical label for stems whose final consonant favors -ем in masculine and neuter nouns; lexical exceptions still need to be learned.
| Declension type | Nominative singular | Instrumental singular | Instrumental plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine, usual hard stem | нови град | новим градом | новим градовима |
| masculine, soft stem | стари пријатељ | старим пријатељем | старим пријатељима |
| feminine in -а | нова књига | новом књигом | новим књигама |
| feminine in a consonant | велика љубав | великом љубављу | великим љубавима |
| neuter in -о | ново село | новим селом | новим селима |
| neuter in -е | широко поље | широким пољем | широким пољима |
Adjective endings are more regular than noun endings: masculine and neuter singular use -им, feminine singular uses -ом, and all genders use -им in the plural before a noun. The noun then supplies -ом/-ем, -има, or -ама according to its declension.
До села смо стигли уским планинским путем.
We reached the village by a narrow mountain road.
О проблему сам разговарала са новом колегиницом.
I discussed the problem with a new colleague.
Путници су чекали пред затвореним вратима.
The passengers waited in front of the closed door.
Masculine singular: -ом versus -ем
Most masculine consonant-stem nouns take -ом: градом, студентом, доктором. After a palatal or historically soft final consonant, -ем is frequent: краљем, пријатељем, коњем, мужем, ножем, кључем. The alternation improves the sound sequence, but it is not perfectly predictable from spelling alone.
| Pattern | Examples | Note |
|---|---|---|
| default -ом | градом, братом, доктором | productive default |
| soft-final -ем | краљем, коњем, ножем | common after ј, љ, њ, ч, ћ, ђ, ш, ж |
| dissimilation back to -ом | музејом, кејом, Бечом | an earlier е in the stem favors -ом |
| stem alternation | отац → оцем, мислилац → мислиоцем | fleeting а and other stem changes remain visible |
There is no honest one-line rule covering every loanword and stem in -ц, -ш, -ж, or -џ. Learn frequent nouns with the instrumental. For example, standard Serbian records both путем and путом. The usual unmarked form is путем, especially in meanings such as овим путем “in this way/by these means”; путом is much rarer and occurs particularly after prepositions, as in над путом “over the road.”
До центра идемо трамвајем, а затим настављамо пешке.
We're going downtown by tram and then continuing on foot.
Разговарао је са старим пријатељем до касно у ноћ.
He talked with an old friend until late at night.
Neuter singular follows the stem class
Neuter nouns in -о normally form instrumental in -ом: село → селом, место → местом. Nouns in -е commonly take -ем: поље → пољем, море → морем. Extended stems retain their stem material: име → именом, време → временом, дете → дететом.
Летели смо над мирним морем скоро два сата.
We flew over the calm sea for almost two hours.
Све је потписано пуним именом и презименом.
Everything was signed with the full first and last name.
The adjective remains masculine/neuter instrumental -им regardless of whether the noun ends in -ом or -ем.
Feminine nouns in -а: -ом
Replace nominative -а with instrumental -ом: жена → женом, сестра → сестром, књига → књигом, улица → улицом. Ordinary stem spelling rules still apply, but this case does not trigger the velar-to-sibilant alternation seen before -и.
На пут идем са млађом сестром и њеном другарицом.
I'm going on the trip with my younger sister and her friend.
Пакет је везала танком црвеном траком.
She tied the package with a thin red ribbon.
Phrase-wide agreement is visible twice in танком црвеном траком. English word order supplies no equivalent signal.
Feminine consonant stems: -ју and -и
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant often have instrumental singular in -ју, which triggers jotation or assimilation: љубав → љубављу, памет → памећу, глад → глађу, свест → свешћу, младост → младошћу, мисао → мишљу. Some nouns allow or require -и instead, and no single phonological rule predicts the entire lexical division. The full class is covered under feminine i-declension.
Проблем је решила стрпљењем и здравом памећу.
She solved the problem with patience and common sense.
О тој одлуци говорио је с великом горчином, али без љутње.
He spoke about that decision with great bitterness, but without anger.
The adjective still uses feminine instrumental -ом. Only the noun’s internal shape changes.
Instrumental plural and syncretism
Masculine and neuter nouns usually end in -има; feminine -а nouns use -ама; feminine consonant stems use -има. These instrumental plural forms are identical to dative and locative plural. Modifiers before nouns use -им in all three cases.
When an adjective or possessive stands without an overt noun, it normally adds -а: са новима “with the new ones,” с нашима “with ours.” Before a noun, use the shorter attributive form: са новим студентима. This difference is about whether the modifier is substantivized, not a fourth case ending.
| Phrase | Possible case | Governor reveals |
|---|---|---|
| новим студентима | dative / instrumental / locative | recipient, companion, or prepositional setting |
| старим кућама | dative / instrumental / locative | goal/recipient, means/route, or location |
| важним стварима | dative / instrumental / locative | predicate or preposition |
Новим студентима смо послали упутства.
We sent instructions to the new students.
Са новим студентима смо обишли библиотеку.
We toured the library with the new students.
The first identical-looking phrase is dative recipient; са makes the second instrumental accompaniment. Do not invent different endings to preserve a distinction Serbian expresses syntactically.
Personal and reflexive pronouns
Instrumental pronouns are frequent after с(а) and other prepositions.
| Person | Instrumental | Common prepositional phrase |
|---|---|---|
| ја | мном / мноме | са мном |
| ти | тобом | с тобом |
| он / оно | њим / њиме | с њим |
| она | њом / њоме | с њом |
| ми / ви / они | нама / вама / њима | с нама / с вама / с њима |
| reflexive себе | собом | са собом |
The expanded preposition is obligatory in са мном. Longer forms мноме, њиме, and њоме are standard but often chosen for rhythm or emphasis; the shorter forms are neutral.
Понеси кишобран са собом јер ће падати киша.
Take an umbrella with you because it's going to rain.
Хоћеш ли да пођеш са мном на изложбу?
Would you like to come with me to the exhibition?
Common Mistakes
1. Applying -ом to every masculine noun.
❌ Разговарам са новим пријатељом.
Incorrect — пријатељ has instrumental singular пријатељем.
✅ Разговарам са новим пријатељем из Крагујевца.
I'm talking with a new friend from Kragujevac.
2. Using a masculine/neuter adjective ending with a feminine noun.
❌ Путујем са мојим старијом сестром.
Incorrect — the adjective and possessive must both be feminine instrumental.
✅ Путујем са својом старијом сестром.
I'm traveling with my older sister.
3. Building an i-stem mechanically from the nominative.
❌ Све је постигла великом упорностју.
Incorrect — -ју triggers the standard sound changes: упорношћу.
✅ Све је постигла великом упорношћу.
She achieved everything through great persistence.
4. Using the regular pronoun stem after са.
❌ Желиш ли да разговараш са ја?
Incorrect — after са, ја has instrumental form мном.
✅ Желиш ли да разговараш са мном насамо?
Do you want to talk to me in private?
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Form two singular phrases
Give the instrumental forms represented in the sentence and explain the endings.
Кесу је пресекао оштрим ножем, а кутију је везао чврстом траком.
He cut the bag with a sharp knife and tied the box with a strong ribbon.
Answer: masculine soft-stem нож takes ножем with adjective оштрим. Feminine трака takes траком with adjective чврстом.
Task 2: Resolve plural syncretism
Name the case of each occurrence of старим кућама.
Пришли смо старим кућама, а затим смо шетали међу старим кућама.
We approached the old houses and then walked among the old houses.
Answer: the first phrase is dative after прићи; the second is instrumental after stationary/spatial међу. Their plural forms are identical.
Key Takeaways
Use -ом as the main masculine/neuter pattern, but learn soft-stem -ем and lexical exceptions. Feminine -а nouns take -ом; consonant-stem feminines often use transformed -ју forms. Plural -има/-ама is shared with dative and locative, so the governor identifies the case. All modifiers must agree, and pronouns have dedicated forms such as са мном, с њом, and са собом.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Instrumental: Means and AccompanimentA2 — The 'by means of' and 'with someone' functions.
- Instrumental: Location, Time, and Predicate UsesB1 — Static-position prepositions, time, and the predicate instrumental.
- Instrumental Uses at a GlanceA2 — A quick roundup of the instrumental.
- The Fleeting 'a' (nepostojano a)B1 — The vowel a that appears and disappears between consonants.
- Feminine Consonant-Stem Nouns (i-declension)A2 — The large class of feminine nouns ending in a consonant.
- Adjective AgreementA1 — How adjectives match nouns in gender, number, and case.