German and Serbian: Language Cousins Mingle at a Family Feast I Nemački Svuda

Have you ever sat down to learn German and thought: "Well, who is crazy here?" Or have you perhaps, on the other hand, experienced that "aha!" moment when you realize you understand a word perfectly because it sounds just like ours?

Although at first glance it seems that German and Serbian have as much in common as sarma (typical serbian dish) and bratwurst sausage, the truth is that these two languages are actually distant cousins that have much more in common than you think – but also a few dramatic differences because of which pulling our hair out during learning is inevitable.

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Similarities: Where we understand each other perfectly

1. „Vuk Karadžić“ the german way

We all know the golden rule of Serbian: „Write as you speak, read as it is written“. Well, the Germans are not exactly Vuk Karadžić, but they are the closest to him in Europe! Unlike the English who write „queue“ and read „kju“ (why do those other letters even exist then?!), Germans in 90% of cases read exactly what they wrote. Once you realize that sch is actually Š, and tsch is actually Č, reading goes like clockwork.

2. Brilliant cases (A blessing in disguise)

While the English and Spanish cross themselves with both left and right hands when they hear about cases, for us, this is home turf. German has 4 cases (Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative). Serbian has 7. So, we are math professors to them! Germans have a problem with „motion and rest“ (Dative for location, Accusative for direction)? Well, we also say: „U školi sam“ (Location/Dative) and „Idem u školu“ (Accusative). Meaning, you already have the logic in your head, you just need to „switch“ it into German mode.

3. Half of our house is in German

If you think you don't know a single German word, take a walk to the kitchen, the workshop, or to grandma's.

Where do you keep your cutlery? In the drawer (Schublade)? With what do you zip up your jacket? With a rajfešlus? And you dry your laundry on a štrik (Strick). Not to mention the šrafciger, veš-mašina, šnajder, lampa, farba, or šlag. Half of the Serbian household vocabulary is actually pure German (thanks to history and neighbors), not to mention car parts. On my platform Nemački svuda, we love to emphasize these words

Differences: Where total chaos begins

1. Three parents, three destinies (Der, Die, Das)

In Serbian, everything is logical. A woman is she, a man is he, a child is it. Everything that ends in -a is feminine, and in a consonant is masculine. Germans? Well, they decided to complicate life. In their language, a girl is of the neuter gender (das Mädchen), a spoon is masculine (der Löffel), a fork is feminine (die Gabel), and a knife is neuter (das Messer). Why? Just so they wouldn't be bored. Lesson: Don't look for logic where there is none, gender is learned by heart!

2. Verb at the end?

In Serbian, you can structure a sentence however you want, everyone will understand you. You can say: „Ja želim danas da idem u prodavnicu da kupim hleb“. In the German subordinate word order, the verb goes to the very end of the sentence. A literal translation would sound like this: „Ja sam danas u prodavnicu da kupim hleb išao“. If you are talking to a German, you have to wait for him to finish his entire three-minute monologue to hear the word „gekommen“ or „gegangen“ at the very end and actually find out whether the man arrived or left. Patience is a virtue, especially in German.

3. Words a kilometer long

Germans love to compound words. Why say three words, when you can make one that barely fits on paper? Our favorite example: Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (yes, this is a real word and it means the Law on the delegation of duties for the supervision of beef labeling).

If you want to master the German language without dry memorization, through real examples and a relaxed atmosphere – you are in the right place. On my website Nemački svuda, we bust the myths about the difficult German language and teach you to speak with confidence!