Before you can build any sentence in Serbian, you need two things: knowing who you're talking about, and knowing how to say is and are. This post covers both. Think of this as the absolute foundation — everything else in Serbian grammar builds on top of it.

Personal Pronouns — who are we talking about?

Personal pronouns are words like I, you, he, she, we, they. They tell us who is doing something. In Serbian, each pronoun has its own specific form, just like in English.

One thing that immediately stands out: Serbian has three words for "they." Which one you use depends on the gender of the group you're talking about.

1. Oni — a group of men, or a mixed group of men and women
2. One — a group of women only
3. Ona — a group of neuter nouns (things, not people)

For now, just know they exist. You'll get used to them naturally over time.

The verb "biti" — to be

The most important verb in Serbian is biti, which means to be. It's the first verb every learner needs to know.

Just like in English (I am, you are, he is), the verb biti changes its form depending on who you're talking about. This is called conjugation. Here is the full present tense:

There's a useful pattern hiding in this table:

1. On, ona, ono — all three use je
2. Oni, one, ona — all three use su

So instead of memorizing ten separate combinations, you're really only memorizing six distinct verb forms: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su — and two of those cover three pronouns each. That makes it much more manageable.

Why these pairs matter — a very important note

Now that you can see the full table, notice that each auxiliary verb has exactly one pronoun — or group of pronouns — that belongs to it. These are partners, and you must memorize them as pairs.

The reason this is so important is that Serbians very often drop the personal pronoun and just use the auxiliary verb on its own. The verb form already tells you who the subject is, so the pronoun becomes unnecessary. Look at the table again — if you see or hear sam, you know it belongs to ja. If you hear si, you know it's ti. If you hear smo, you know it's mi. The auxiliary verb carries the person inside it.

This is something you will encounter constantly from day one. Memorize the pairs, not just the words.

Putting it together — your first sentences

With just these pronouns and the verb biti, you can already introduce yourself and others.

Examples:

Ja sam Ana. — I am Ana.

Ti si Branko. — You are Branko.

On je David. — He is David.

Memorize the pronoun + biti pairings before moving on to the next lesson — they will appear in every grammar topic from this point forward. If anything in this post is unclear, ask in the comments below.