Porodica Mrvice
1.4aMorića Han courtyard café, Sarajevo
Lesson goals
Vocabulary
- Name majka, otac, sestra, brat, baba, djed, sin, and kći
- Use porodica, prijatelj, prijateljica, and mačka around the café
- Use the possessives moj, moja, tvoj, and tvoja
Grammar
- Notice masculine versus feminine nouns
- Match moj or moja and tvoj or tvoja to the noun
- Reuse familiar present-tense frames from earlier lessons.
Culture
- Café regulars as chosen family in Sarajevo
- Mrvica as the café’s unofficial boss
Watch the companion video
Watch when you can, then come back for words, dialogue, and practice on this page.
How to speak Bosnian (YouTube). Companion video for Lesson 4
Café family and one small boss
In Sarajevo, a good café can feel like a living room. Regulars greet the owner by name, share news, and claim “their” chair. Amira’s place works the same way. Ana, Emir, and the usual guests start to feel like porodica. Family you choose. Mrvica the cat patrols the tables, steals warmth, and somehow adopts Ana. Learn the family words, then use them for blood relatives and for the people (and cats) who make a city feel like home.
Lesson vocabulary
Tap a word to hear it. Use Loop and slower speed when you want to shadow.
Grammar
Gender intro. He or she words
Many Bosnian nouns feel masculine or feminine. A quick beginner tip helps. Words ending in -a are often feminine, such as majka, sestra, mačka, and porodica. Short words without that ending are often masculine in this lesson, such as otac, brat, and djed.
- sestra, majka, mačka: feminine (-a)
- brat, otac, sin: masculine
- Mrvica je mačka.: Mrvica is a cat.
Moj / moja and tvoj / tvoja
Moj means my before a masculine noun. Moja means my before a feminine noun. The same split holds for informal your with tvoj and tvoja. Say Moj brat and Moja sestra. Do not mix them yet.
- Moj otac. Moja majka.: My father. My mother.
- Tvoj brat. Tvoja sestra.: Your brother. Your sister.
- Moja mačka.: My cat.
Who is who. On je / Ona je
Reuse biti from Lesson 2 to point and name people. Say On je moj prijatelj. Say Ona je moja prijateljica. Say Ona je Mrvica, mačka! The same short pattern works for one bossy cat too.
- On je moj brat.: He is my brother.
- Ona je moja sestra.: She is my sister.
- Emir je moj prijatelj.: Emir is my friend.
Say again
Warm up with four lines you already know.
- Jednu kahvu, molim.: One coffee, please.
- Dva fildžana.: Two cups.
- Hvala!: Thank you!
- Ja sam Ana.: I am Ana.
Lesson A. Family words + gender
Build the family tree with majka, otac, sestra, brat, baba, djed, sin, and kći. Say each word aloud twice. Mark the -a words as feminine in your notes. Add porodica for family and mačka for cat. Ana draws a tiny family tree in her notebook, then draws Mrvica at the top. Emir laughs and says To je porodica Mrvice!
- For this lesson’s nouns, -a endings are often feminine.
- Kći needs ć. Include the special letter.
Match the family words
Match each Bosnian word to the English meaning.
Lesson B. Moj / moja at Amira’s
Claim people with possessives. Say Moj prijatelj Emir. Say Moja prijateljica Amira. Ask Moja mačka? Mrvica decides that Ana is hers. Practice the pairs Moj otac and Moja majka, then Tvoj brat and Tvoja sestra. Walk the café and point. Say Ona je Amira. Say On je Emir. Say Ona je Mrvica. The win in this lesson is short true sentences rather than a full case chart.
- Keep Moj, Moja, On je, and Ona je ready.
- Match moj or moja to the noun’s gender.
Porodica za stolom
Amira’s café late afternoon. Steam, soft talk, Mrvica on a chair back.
Play the full scene once. Then tap a line to hear it. On some lines you can record yourself for a short Speak Check.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Practice
Your keyboard may not have č ć š ž đ. Tap the accent buttons under each box to insert them.
Write the Bosnian word for mother.
Hint: Ends in -a
Write the Bosnian word for father.
Hint: Starts with o-
Write ‘my sister’ in Bosnian (moja + sestra).
Hint: Feminine possessive
Write ‘my brother’ in Bosnian (moj + brat).
Hint: Masculine possessive
Write the Bosnian word for family.
Hint: po-ro-…
Write the word for cat (needs č).
Hint: Include the special letter for č
Write ‘daughter’ in Bosnian (needs ć).
Hint: Short word with ć
Type. Emir is my friend. (Emir je moj prijatelj.)
Hint: Reuse je + moj
Fun facts
Baba and djed
Baba and djed are everyday words for grandmother and grandfather. Families may use affectionate variants, but these two open many stories. Learners meet them early because family talk starts with the oldest generation. Learn baba and djed first, then build the rest of the family tree around them.
Prijatelj vs prijateljica
Bosnian marks the gender of friend with two clear forms. Prijatelj is masculine, and prijateljica is feminine. Ana calls Emir prijatelj and Amira prijateljica for that reason. Get the pair right early, because real friendships need the right word from day one.
Mrvica means little crumb
Mrvica means little crumb, and the café cat lives up to it. She believes every lap and every lokum crumb is hers. Family vocabulary in this lesson somehow includes one very pushy mačka. If she claims Ana, Emir will treat that adoption as official.
Chosen family at the table
Calling café regulars porodica is half joke and half truth. People share news, chairs, and kahva until the table feels like home. Warmth is part of the language lesson, not an extra decoration. When Ana uses family words at Amira’s, she is naming both blood relatives and chosen company.
Čuj Bosnu. A song for majka
Family words live in songs too. Listen to Tebi majko misli lete and catch the warm majka sound.
Song · Sementa Rajhard · Family / majka · focus ~45–90 seconds
Watch & listen
Sementa Rajhard performance on YouTube (YouTube Terms of Service (embed))
Listen for majka or the warm mother-directed tone.
Press play on the video above. After you have listened, show the gist question.
Bosnia today
Three presidents share one top office
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top executive is split along ethnic lines deliberately. The Presidency has three members, one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb, under the Dayton settlement that ended the war. That shared office is meant to keep each constituent people represented at the highest level of the state. Family talk at a café table therefore happens in a country where even the top job is a three-person arrangement, not a single national president.
Wikipedia. Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Practice game
Match my / your
Match each possessive to the English meaning.
Quick review
A few words from this lesson, plus ones you missed before. Flip the card, then mark how it went.
Card 1 / 5
More resources
- How to speak Bosnian (YouTube). Companion video for Lesson 4
- Next. Lesson 5. Gdje je Mostar?. Places, gdje/ovdje/tamo, and a Mostar tease
- Book 1 curriculum. See all lessons
Lesson quiz
Or open the full-page quiz: Lesson 4 quiz
Lesson 4 section quiz
1. What does ‘majka’ mean?
2. Which word means ‘brother’?
3. Choose the correct pair:
4. ‘Moj otac’ means…
5. Mrvica is a…
6. A female friend is a…
7. ‘Baba’ in this lesson means…
8. Which possessive goes with ‘mačka’?
9. ‘Porodica’ means…
