Nouns: Genitive Case

01

Possession and 'of'

The genitive joins two nouns where English uses "of" or an apostrophe-s. The owner or source goes into the genitive.

• vozač autobusa

  the driver of the bus

• broj moje sobe

  the number of my room

• Stranice rječnika su tanke.

  The pages of the dictionary are thin.

02

The Endings

• Feminine -a → -e: žena → žene, voda → vode
• Masculine and neuter → -a: grad → grada, selo → sela

• čaša vode

  a glass of water

• vod- water, -e the feminine genitive ending - the glass is nominative, the water is what the glass is of

In the plural the genitive ending varies: most feminine and masculine nouns take a long -a, while some take -i.

• puno problema

  a lot of problems

• mnogo godina

  many years

03

Partitive: Amounts and Quantities

After a word of quantity, the thing being measured goes into the genitive - exactly like English "a glass of water". This covers puno and mnogo (a lot), malo (a little), nekoliko (a few), dosta (enough), dovoljno (enough), and all measures.

• čaša vode

  a glass of water

• litar mlijeka

  a liter of milk

• Imam puno novca.

  I have a lot of money.

• Imam dovoljno novca.

  I have enough money.

• Pojedi nešto voća.

  Eat some fruit.

The collective numbers also take a genitive: dvoje, troje and the like are followed by the genitive plural.

• Imam dvoje djece.

  I have two children.

04

Existence: 'ima' and 'nema'

To say something exists ("there is") or does not exist ("there isn't"), Bosnian uses the unchanging forms ima and nema followed by the genitive. The thing that exists is the genitive object, not a nominative subject.

• U moru ima puno riba.

  There are a lot of fish in the sea.

• rib-a - the genitive plural of riba, not the nominative rib-e a subject would take

• Nema problema.

  There is no problem.

• Vjerujem da više nema hrane.

  I think there is no more food.

05

After Numbers

Numbers from two upward put the counted noun into the genitive. With dva, tri and četiri it is the genitive singular; from pet on it is the genitive plural.

• dva auta

  two cars

• tri motora

  three motorbikes

• šest jaja

  six eggs

• devedeset i pet godina

  ninety-five years

06

With Negation

When a verb is negated, its object often shifts from the accusative to the genitive, and the verb nemati (not to have) always takes it.

• Nemam jaja.

  I don't have eggs.

• Nemam vremena.

  I don't have time.

07

Prepositions That Take the Genitive

A large group of prepositions governs the genitive. The most common are od (from), iz (out of), do (up to), kod (at someone's), bez (without), zbog (because of) and nakon (after), together with the position words ispod (under), iznad (above), ispred (in front of), iza (behind) and između (between).

• Ja sam iz Francuske.

  I am from France.

• Ljudi izlaze iz autobusa.

  People are getting off the bus.

• Mačka je ispod stola.

  The cat is under the table.

• Šta je iza tebe?

  What is behind you?

• Idem do centra grada.

  I am going to the center of the city.

• Jako mi je žao zbog neugodnosti.

  I am very sorry about the inconvenience.

08

Time Prepositions

The time words prije (before), nakon (after) and tokom (during) all take the genitive.

• Okupat ću se prije spavanja.

  I will shower before sleeping.

• Zatvorila je vrata nakon mog dolaska.

  She closed the door after my arrival.

09

'kod' for 'at someone's place'

kod plus the genitive is the usual way to say you are at a person's home or with them, much like French "chez".

• Jesu li roditelji kod kuće?

  Are your parents at home?

• Moram ostati kod kuće.

  I have to stay at home.

10

Dates

Saying that something happened on a date puts both the day and the month in the genitive - august becomes august-a, "of August" - and that pair of genitives is the whole of English "on": there is no preposition anywhere.

• Rođen sam dvanaestog augusta.

  I was born on the twelfth of August.

• dvanaest-og genitive, august-a genitive, and nothing between them