Lesson Two, Communicative Skills

• Expressing features and qualities:
  [noun] [verb to be] [noun] Marko je profesor 'Marko is a professor', [noun] [verb to be] [adjective] Soba je velika. 'The room is big'

• Expressing possession:
  [demonstrative] [verb to be] [possessive pronoun] [noun] To je moja olovka. 'That is my pencil', [noun] [verb to be] [possessive pronoun] Olovka je moja. 'He/she/it is...'

• Asking about professions, ethnic and religious background:
  Ko si ti? (informal) Ko ste Vi? (formal) 'Who are you' - expected answer is either name or profession, Šta si ti? (informal) Šta ste Vi? (formal) 'What are you' - expected answer is nationality, ethnic or religious background, less often profession
  More precise manners of asking these questions will be covered later in the course.

• Asking general questions:
  Da li [verb to be] [pronoun] [noun/adjective] Da li je on profesor? Da li je ona visoka? 'Is he a professor? Is she tall?', [verb to be] li [pronoun] [noun/adjective] Jesu li oni studenti? Jesu li one visoke? 'Are they students? Are they tall?'

• Affirming and negating:
  Strong affirmative answer: [pronoun] [emphasized form of the verb to be] [noun/adjective] Ja jesam profesor! Ti jesi visoka! 'I AM a professor! You ARE tall!'; Negating: [pronoun] [negative form of the verb to be] [noun/adjective] Ja nisam student? On nije profesor? 'I am not a student? He is not a professor?'
  Affirmative particle: da 'yes'; Negative particle ne 'no, not'

• Contrasting:
  [demonstrative] [verb to be] [noun/adjective] a [demonstrative] [verb to be] [noun/adjective] Ovo je prozor a ono stolica. 'This is a window and that (on the other hand) is a chair'; [noun] [verb to be] [adjective] ali [adjective] Knjiga je dobra ali skupa. 'The book is good but expensive