Health and the Body | Serbian Grammar

Serbian does not normally express pain as English “I hurt X.” In Боли ме глава, the body part глава is the grammatical subject, accusative ме is the person experiencing pain, and the verb agrees with the body part. Other symptoms use different frames—имам температуру, мука ми је, не осећам се добро—so learning “health vocabulary” also means learning each predicate's case pattern.

This page teaches language for describing symptoms and communicating with medical staff; it does not diagnose symptoms or replace medical care.

High-frequency body parts

Body part	Gender/number	With “my”
глава	feminine singular	моја глава
стомак	masculine singular	мој стомак
грло	neuter singular	моје грло
зуб	masculine singular	мој зуб
рука / нога	feminine singular	моја рука / моја нога
леђа	neuter plural form	моја леђа
груди	plural	моје груди
очи	plural	моје очи

The possessive table helps with gender, but ordinary symptom statements usually use an experiencer clitic rather than моја/мој: Боли ме глава, not Моја глава боли мене unless contrast is intended.

The pain construction: body part as subject

Use болети + accusative experiencer. A singular body part selects боли; a plural body part selects боле.

Од јутрос ме боли глава и помало ме гребе грло.

I've had a headache since this morning, and my throat is a little scratchy.

После дугог путовања боле ме леђа и ноге.

After the long trip, my back and legs hurt.

Although ме comes before леђа и ноге, it is not the subject. The coordinated plural body parts trigger боле. With polite Ви, the experiencer is accusative вас:

Где вас највише боли и када је бол почео?

Where does it hurt most, and when did the pain begin? (polite singular or plural)

If the body part is omitted and a prepositional phrase only locates the pain, default singular боли is natural:

Најјаче ме боли испод десног ребра кад дубоко удахнем.

It hurts most below my right rib when I take a deep breath.

Compare explicit subject Боле ме леђа. The болети reference covers past agreement and the onset verb заболети.

💡

Find the body-part subject before choosing the verb: боли ме зуб / боли ме глава / боле ме зуби / боле ме леђа.

States with имати

Several common symptoms are direct objects of имати:

Frame	Meaning
имати температуру	have a fever/temperature
имати кашаљ	have a cough
имати мучнину	have nausea
имати осип	have a rash
имати висок притисак	have high blood pressure

Имам температуру и сув кашаљ већ два дана.

I've had a fever and a dry cough for two days.

Температуру and сув кашаљ are accusative objects. Masculine inanimate кашаљ looks like nominative; feminine температура visibly changes to температуру.

For a measured value, the temperature can become the subject:

Температура ми је 38,5, али немам мучнину.

My temperature is 38.5°C, but I don't have nausea.

Serbian writes the decimal separator as a comma. Dative ми marks whose temperature it is.

Dative experiencer frames

Many bodily states are structured as something “being to” a person. Use dative ми, ти, му, јој, нам, вам, им.

Мука ми је и врти ми се кад устанем.

I feel nauseated and dizzy when I stand up.

Хладно јој је, иако у соби није хладно.

She feels cold, although the room itself isn't cold.

Јој is an experiencer. The second clause has no experiencer and describes room temperature generally. In врти ми се, reflexive се is part of the impersonal symptom frame; do not replace dative ми with nominative ја.

Other body-part states also use a possessive dative:

Цури ми нос и сузе ми очи од полена.

My nose is running and my eyes are watering because of pollen.

Nominative нос controls singular цури; plural очи controls сузе. Dative ми identifies the affected person in both.

Actions and reflexive symptoms

Some symptoms are ordinary personal verbs: кашљати, кијати, повраћати, тешко дисати. General condition commonly uses reflexive осећати се.

Не осећам се добро: кашљем и тешко дишем.

I don't feel well: I'm coughing and having difficulty breathing.

Од јуче често кијам, али немам температуру.

I've been sneezing frequently since yesterday, but I don't have a fever.

Осећати се is lexical reflexive for one's condition. Without се, осећати can mean feel/perceive something: осећам бол “I feel pain.”

Injuries often use a transitive verb plus an accusative body part, or a reflexive verb when the event affects the subject:

Повредио сам десно колено кад сам пао низ степенице.

I injured my right knee when I fell down the stairs. (male speaker)

Посекла сам се на оштру ивицу конзерве.

I cut myself on the sharp edge of a can. (female speaker)

Past l-participles повредио / посекла agree with the speaker; direct object десно колено is neuter accusative.

Duration, onset, and severity

Use од + genitive for a starting point and већ + duration for a state continuing until now.

Грло ме боли од понедељка, а кашаљ траје већ четири дана.

My throat has hurt since Monday, and the cough has lasted for four days.

Болети presents the ongoing pain. Заболети presents its onset:

Леђа су ме изненада заболела док сам подизала кофер.

My back suddenly started hurting while I was lifting the suitcase. (female speaker)

Neuter plural леђа selects су ... заболела. The feminine participle подизала belongs to the female speaker, not to кофер.

Severity can be благо, умерено, јако or expressed with a scale. In conversation, мало / много ме боли is understandable, but јако ме боли is a clearer description of intense pain.

Allergies, medicines, and medical history

Алергичан / алергична takes на + accusative. Боловати од takes genitive for an illness, though ordinary conversations often use имати with a condition.

Алергична сам на пеницилин и неке лекове против болова.

I'm allergic to penicillin and some painkillers. (female speaker)

Да ли узимате неке лекове и да ли болујете од хроничних болести?

Are you taking any medicines, and do you have any chronic illnesses? (polite/formal)

Неке лекове is accusative plural after узимати. Од хроничних болести is genitive plural after од. Do not confuse лек “medicine” with лекар “doctor.”

At the clinic or pharmacy

Use код + genitive for going to a person: код лекара, код зубара. Use у + accusative/locative for a place: у апотеку / у апотеци, у дом здравља / у дому здравља.

Треба ми лекар; где је најближи дом здравља?

I need a doctor; where is the nearest health center?

Желела бих да закажем преглед код лекара опште праксе.

I'd like to schedule an appointment with a general practitioner. (female speaker)

Треба ми лекар makes лекар nominative and ми dative. Код лекара is genitive after код. At a pharmacy, explain the symptom and ask for professional guidance rather than issuing yourself a prescription:

Имам сув кашаљ; можете ли да ми кажете коме да се обратим?

I have a dry cough; could you tell me whom I should contact?

In an emergency, direct imperatives are appropriate:

Позовите хитну помоћ и реците им тачну адресу.

Call emergency medical services and tell them the exact address. (polite/plural instruction)

Here dative им is the recipient of the address; accusative тачну адресу is what is said.

Situational dialogue

— Добар дан. Шта вас мучи? — Од јуче ме боли грло, имам температуру и тешко гутам. — Да ли кашљете и да ли сте алергични на неки лек? — Помало кашљем, а алергичан сам на пеницилин.

— Hello. What seems to be the problem? — Since yesterday my throat has hurt, I have a fever, and it's hard for me to swallow. — Are you coughing, and are you allergic to any medicine? — I'm coughing a little, and I'm allergic to penicillin. (male patient; polite clinical exchange)

Вас is polite accusative in шта вас мучи. Ме is accusative experiencer with боли, while subject грло controls singular agreement. Алергичан agrees with the male patient; a female patient says алергична сам.

💡

At a medical appointment, state four things clearly: what hurts, other symptoms, when they began, and relevant medicines or allergies. Each uses its own stable grammatical frame.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Let the body part control agreement

Use зуб, глава, ноге, and леђа with ме. Choose боли/боле and then build one past sentence with an agreeing l-participle.

Task 2: Give a short symptom history

State one symptom with имати, one with a dative frame such as мука ми је, a starting time with од, and an allergy with на + accusative.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ја болим глава већ два дана.

Incorrect—the body part is nominative subject and the experiencer is accusative: боли ме глава.

✅ Глава ме боли већ два дана, нарочито увече.

My head has been hurting for two days, especially in the evening.

❌ После дуге шетње ме боли стопала.

Incorrect—plural стопала require plural боле.

✅ После дуге шетње ме боле оба стопала.

Both of my feet hurt after the long walk.

❌ Ја сам алергичан од пеницилина.

Incorrect government—алергичан takes на + accusative, not од + genitive.

✅ Алергичан сам на пеницилин.

I'm allergic to penicillin. (male speaker)

❌ Идем у лекару после посла.

Incorrect—visiting a person uses код + genitive.

✅ Идем код лекара после посла, а затим у апотеку.

I'm going to the doctor after work and then to the pharmacy.

❌ Мука ме је и врти ме се.

Incorrect case in these impersonal symptom frames—the experiencer is dative ми.

✅ Мука ми је и врти ми се чим покушам да устанем.

I feel nauseated and dizzy as soon as I try to stand up.

Key Takeaways

With болети, the body part is nominative subject and the experiencer is accusative.
Match боли/боле and past participles to the body part, including plural леђа.
Keep separate frames for имати symptoms, dative experiencer states, personal symptom verbs, and reflexive осећати се.
Use алергичан на + accusative, боловати од + genitive, and код лекара accurately.
Match clinical Ви forms consistently and communicate duration, severity, medicines, and allergies explicitly.

Now practice Serbian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Serbian →