Everyday Questions | Serbian Grammar

Everyday Serbian questions use a small set of reusable frames. Yes/no questions usually begin with да ли or put ли after a finite verb. Information questions begin with ко, шта, где, када, како, зашто, који, or колико, and the question word takes the same case and preposition that the answer would require.

Two neutral ways to ask yes or no

Да ли + clause and finite verb + ли are both standard. They do not require an equivalent of English do/does/did.

Да ли данас радиш од куће?

Are you working from home today? (informal singular)

Имате ли слободан термин у среду после подне?

Do you have an available appointment on Wednesday afternoon? (polite or plural)

Можемо ли овде да оставимо бицикле?

Can we leave the bicycles here?

In conversation, statement order plus rising intonation is common: Долазиш вечерас? often checks or confirms an expected plan. The question pattern itself is not restricted to informal speech; familiarity here comes from singular долазиш, while polite/plural Долазите вечерас? is equally possible.

With present бити, use stressed јесам ли, јеси ли, јесмо ли, јесте ли, јесу ли; third-person singular is conventionally је ли. Short clitics such as си cannot begin a neutral ли question.

Јеси ли слободна после предавања?

Are you free after the lecture? (addressing one woman informally)

For the full placement system, see the question particle ли.

The core information questions

Question word	What it asks	Everyday frame
ко	person	Ко долази?
шта	thing/action	Шта радиш?
где	location	Где живиш?
одакле	origin/source	Одакле сте?
када	time	Када почиње?
како	manner/state	Како си?
зашто	reason	Зашто касниш?
колико	amount/number	Колико кошта?
који/која/које	choice from a set	Који аутобус иде до центра?

Где станујеш и колико ти треба до посла?

Where do you live, and how long does it take you to get to work? (informal singular)

Одакле сте и колико дуго живите у Србији?

Where are you from, and how long have you lived in Serbia? (polite or plural)

Када се продавница отвара, а када се затвара?

When does the shop open, and when does it close?

Serbian normally omits a subject pronoun because the verb ending identifies the person. Где ти живиш? is possible when contrasting you with someone else; neutral Где живиш? is lighter.

Let the answer choose the case

The unknown expression has the same grammatical role as its answer. Do not use nominative ко for every English who.

Question	Answer pattern	Case
Ко те је позвао?	Позвала ме је Ана.	nominative subject
Кога чекаш?	Чекам Ану.	accusative object
Коме пишеш?	Пишем Ани.	dative recipient
С ким идеш?	Идем с Аном.	instrumental after с
О коме говорите?	Говоримо о Ани.	locative after о

Кога тражите и код кога имате заказан разговор?

Who are you looking for, and who is your appointment with? (polite or plural)

С ким си дошла и коме да дам другу карту?

Who did you come with, and who should I give the other ticket to? (addressing one woman informally)

English often leaves its preposition at the end. Serbian normally moves the preposition with the question form: с ким, код кога, за кога, о чему.

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Build the answer first. If the answer is с колегиницом, ask с ким; if it is колегиници, ask коме.

Asking which one and how much

Који behaves like an adjective and agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case.

Коју величину носите и која вам боја више одговара?

What size do you wear, and which color suits you better? (polite or plural)

Accusative feminine коју величину is the object of носите. Nominative feminine која боја is the subject of одговара; dative вам identifies the person it suits.

Колико asks for price, duration, distance, age, or quantity. The noun following a quantity often appears in genitive plural.

Колико кошта овај пуњач и колико траје гаранција?

How much does this charger cost, and how long does the warranty last?

Колико дана остајете и колико вам соба треба?

How many days are you staying, and how many rooms do you need? (polite or plural)

Дана and соба are genitive plural after колико. In колико вам соба треба, the needed rooms form the quantified subject-like phrase and the person in need is dative вам.

Some English questions need a Serbian lexical frame rather than a word-for-word structure.

Чиме се бавиш и шта највише волиш у свом послу?

What do you do, and what do you like most about your work? (informal singular)

Одакле познајете домаћина?

How do you know the host? (polite or plural)

Шта обично радиш у слободно време?

What do you usually do in your free time? (informal singular)

Чиме се бавити takes instrumental and asks about occupation or principal activity. Шта радиш? can mean either “what are you doing now?” or “what do you do?”; context decides.

Questions about age, family, income, health, religion, or relationships can be ordinary in one relationship and intrusive in another. Serbian has no grammatical formula that makes a personal question harmless. Phrases such as ако није сувише лично acknowledge the boundary but do not create permission automatically.

Ако није сувише лично, да ли већ дуго живите сами?

If it isn't too personal, have you been living alone for long? (polite or plural)

Answering without ambiguity

Serbian often repeats the finite verb: имам/немам, јесам/нисам, хоћу/нећу, могу/не могу. This is especially useful after a negative question.

— Имате ли резервацију? — Имамо, на презиме Стојановић.

— Do you have a reservation? — We do, under the surname Stojanović.

— Зар не радиш сутра? — Не радим; колега ме мења.

— Aren't you working tomorrow? — I'm not; a colleague is covering for me.

Bare да/не may be sufficient, but the repeated verb states the real polarity clearly. See yes, no, and response particles.

Polite and familiar versions

The content can stay the same while the verb changes:

Familiar singular	Polite singular / plural
Како си?	Како сте?
Где живиш?	Где живите?
Имаш ли времена?	Имате ли времена?
Можеш ли да ми помогнеш?	Можете ли да ми помогнете?

Do not switch halfway through one question. Polite/plural ви requires plural verb forms throughout.

Situational dialogue

— Извините, да ли ова линија иде до Клиничког центра? — Иде, али где тачно идете? — Код главног улаза. Колико станица има до тамо? — Шест. Имате ли карту? — Немам. Где могу да је купим?

— Excuse me, does this route go to the Clinical Center? — It does, but where exactly are you going? — To the main entrance. How many stops is it from here? — Six. Do you have a ticket? — I don't. Where can I buy one? (polite exchange)

The dialogue combines да ли, a repeated positive verb иде, где, quantified колико станица, and an unambiguous negative answer немам.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Build from the answer

Turn the answers с пријатељем, пријатељу, and код пријатеља into questions. Keep each preposition and case in the question phrase.

Task 2: Change the relationship

Ask a friend and then an unfamiliar employee where they work, when they finish, and whether they have time. Change every singular familiar form to its polite/plural counterpart.

Common Mistakes

❌ Шта да ли радите после састанка?

Incorrect—an information question with шта does not also take neutral да ли.

✅ Шта радите после данашњег састанка?

What are you doing after today's meeting? (polite or plural)

❌ Си ли већ послала поруку?

Incorrect opening—unstressed си cannot host ли clause-initially; use јеси ли or да ли си.

✅ Јеси ли већ послала поруку домаћину?

Have you already sent the host a message? (addressing one woman informally)

❌ Ко чекаш испред зграде?

Incorrect case—the unknown animate direct object must be accusative кога.

✅ Кога чекаш испред главног улаза?

Who are you waiting for in front of the main entrance?

❌ Кога идеш са на концерт?

Incorrect preposition placement and form—front the complete instrumental phrase с ким.

✅ С ким идеш на концерт у петак?

Who are you going to the concert with on Friday?

❌ Који канцеларију тражите?

Incorrect agreement—feminine accusative канцеларију requires коју.

✅ Коју канцеларију тражите? Могу да вам покажем где је.

Which office are you looking for? I can show you where it is.

Key Takeaways

Ask yes/no questions with да ли or finite verb + ли; Serbian has no English-style do-support.
Put information words first and give them the case and preposition required by the answer.
Који agrees with its noun; колико commonly governs a genitive plural quantity phrase.
Match every verb to familiar ти or polite/plural ви consistently.
Repeat the finite verb when a short да/не answer could leave polarity unclear.

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