Demonstratives

01

The Three Distances

• ovaj - this, close to the speaker
• taj - that, close to the listener or already mentioned
• onaj - that one yonder, far from both

• Ovo je moja nova kuća.

  This is my new house.

• Taj muškarac trči.

  That man is running.

• Je li onaj mladić tvoj muž?

  Is that young man your husband?

02

They Agree Like Adjectives

A demonstrative copies the gender, number and case of its noun: ovaj (m), ova (f), ovo (n), and so on through the cases.

• ovaj pulover

  this sweater (m)

• ova voda

  this water (f)

• ovo pismo

  this letter (n)

• Ne znam pjesmu tog benda.

  I don't know a song by that band. (genitive)

03

The Neuter as 'this one / that one'

The neuter forms ovo and to are used on their own to mean "this (thing)" or "that (thing)", pointing at something without naming it. to je (that is) is the everyday way to identify things.

• Šta je to?

  What is that?

• To je stari radio.

  That is an old radio.

• Vidite li ovo?

  Do you see this?

04

Plural: these and those

In the plural the same words mean "these" and "those", still agreeing with the noun.

• A koliko koštaju ovi?

  And how much do these cost?

• Ti čamci su skupi.

  Those boats are expensive.

05

Introducing People and Things

ovo je is the standard way to introduce someone or present something.

• Ovo je moj kolega.

  This is my colleague.

• Ovo su vrata, a ono je prozor.

  This is the door, and that is the window.

• vrata (door) exists only in the plural in Bosnian, so it takes su - even though English says "is"

06

'taj' for 'the aforementioned'

taj often points back to something already mentioned, much like English "that" or "the".

• Taj laptop košta hiljadu eura.

  That laptop costs a thousand euros.

• Imam popunjen raspored u to vrijeme.

  My schedule is full at that time.

07

They Trigger the Definite Adjective

After a demonstrative, a following adjective takes its definite (long) form, because the noun is now a specific, pointed-out one.

• Taj mali pas je sladak.

  That little dog is cute.