Da li želite da učite jezik sa mojom sestrom?

Da li is a very common way to mark a yes/no question in Serbian. It does not translate word-for-word very neatly into English, but it functions a bit like do / does / is / are at the start of an English question.

So Da li želite... means something like Do you want... or Would you like...

Yes. A very common alternative is:

Želite li da učite jezik sa mojom sestrom?

Here, li comes after the verb, which is also a standard way to form a yes/no question. Both versions are correct.

You may also hear questions formed just by intonation in speech, but Da li... and Verb + li... are the clearest standard patterns for learners.

Želite is the 2nd person plural form, but Serbian also uses that same form for formal singular you.

So this sentence could mean:

• you all want
• you want, speaking politely to one person

If you were talking to one person informally, you would say:

Da li želiš da učiš jezik sa mojom sestrom?

After verbs like želeti meaning to want, Serbian very often uses da + present tense where English uses an infinitive.

So:

• želim da učim = I want to learn
• želite da učite = you want to learn

This is one of the most important Serbian sentence patterns. English says to learn, but Serbian commonly says da učite.

Učite is the present tense, 2nd person plural / formal singular form of učiti.

That matches želite, which is also 2nd person plural / formal singular. So both verbs refer to the same you:

• želite = you want
• učite = you learn / study

In this sentence, učiti means learn or study.

With jezik, the natural meaning is learn/study a language. So učite jezik is understood as learning a language, not teaching it.

Depending on context, učiti can sometimes be involved in teaching-related meanings too, but here a learner should understand it as learn/study.

Because Serbian has no articles. There is no direct equivalent of English a/an/the.

So jezik can mean:

• a language
• the language
• sometimes just language

The exact meaning depends on context, not on an article.

Because the preposition sa meaning with takes the instrumental case when it means accompaniment.

The basic form is:

• moja sestra = my sister in the nominative

After sa, it changes to instrumental:

• sa mojom sestrom

So both words change to match the case:

• moja → mojom
• sestra → sestrom

It is the instrumental singular.

In Serbian, after sa/s meaning with, you usually use the instrumental for the person or thing accompanying someone.

That is why you get:

• moja sestra → nominative
• mojom sestrom → instrumental

Yes. You may also see:

Da li želite da učite jezik s mojom sestrom?

Both are acceptable. In Serbian, sa is very common, and s is a shorter variant. Learners should recognize both as meaning with.

Not completely. Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The original sentence is a neutral, natural order:

• Da li želite da učite jezik sa mojom sestrom?

But you could also say:

• Želite li da učite jezik sa mojom sestrom?

Other word orders are possible too, but they may change emphasis or sound less neutral.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• ž sounds roughly like the s in measure
• č sounds like ch in church, but a bit firmer
• j sounds like y in yes

So:

• želite begins with a ž sound
• učite contains č
• mojom contains j, so it sounds roughly like MO-yom

Yes, it is at least polite/formal if spoken to one person, because of želite. It can also simply be plural, addressing more than one person.

The whole sentence sounds perfectly natural and polite. If you wanted to sound even softer or more courteous, Serbian might also use a form like:

Da li biste želeli da učite jezik sa mojom sestrom?

That is closer to Would you like to learn a language with my sister?