Ovaj

Ovaj is a demonstrative determiner used in several South Slavic languages, most notably Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. It signals proximity to the speaker and translates roughly as this or this one in English. Ovaj accompanies a noun and agrees with its gender and number. The basic nominative singular forms are ovaj (masculine), ova (feminine), and ovo (neuter). In the nominative plural, the common forms are ovi (masculine), ove (feminine), and ova (neuter). In other cases, ovaj changes according to standard noun-adjective declension patterns, producing forms such as ovog, ovom, i ovoga, depending on case and grammatical role.

Etymology traces ovoj to the Proto-Slavic demonstrative stem ov- with gendered and case-inflected endings, and cognates appear across related languages with similar meanings and usage.

Usage notes emphasize that ovaj functions to specify a particular noun within discourse or to point to something near the speaker. Examples include: Ovaj čovek je učitelj. This man is a teacher. Ova knjiga je nova. This book is new. Ovo pismo je teško. This letter is difficult. In some constructions, it can stand as a pronoun without a following noun, as in: Ovo je dobro. These forms are central to standard varieties of Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin and are commonly found in everyday speech, writing, and media.