Bosnian Language and Literature: Reading, Grammar, and Written Expression
What the exam expects
The Bosnian Language and Literature section tests three connected abilities: accurate reading comprehension, secure knowledge of standard-language grammar and orthography, and controlled written expression. For literature, you must recognise major periods and genres, identify a text's theme, motive, and narrative perspective, and know basic figures of speech (metafora, epitet, personifikacija, hiperbola, onomatopeja).
Grammar and orthography
Expect questions on the difference between č/ć and dž/đ, on ijekavian reflexes (mlijeko, vrijeme, snijeg), on when to write the negation ne separately from verbs and nouns, and on the future tense, which is written as two words (radit ću, učit ćemo). A frequent trap is the enclitic order: the correct sequence is li – je – će – bi – se – mi/ti/mu/joj – me/te/ga/ju. Another trap is the comma before a, ali, nego, već in compound sentences, which is compulsory, while a comma is never placed before i joining two simple clauses with the same subject.
Literature
Be ready to place a writer in a period: oral epic poetry and the sevdalinka tradition, the Bosnian Renaissance of the nineteenth century, and twentieth-century prose and poetry. Know that a lirska pjesma expresses feeling, an epska pjesma narrates events, and a drama is built on dialogue and stage directions. When a question asks for the tema, answer with the central idea, not the plot summary.
Worked example
Question: choose the correctly written sentence. Option A: Necu doci sutra. Option B: Neću doći sutra. Rule of thumb: every negated future form keeps the full negative particle ne attached to the verb stem (neću, nećeš), and every ć must carry its diacritic. Option B is correct; A fails on two orthographic points at once - a classic double-error distractor.
Writing
In the essay, state a thesis in the introduction, support it with two or three arguments from the text, and close with a conclusion that answers the prompt. Examiners reward textual evidence and penalise retelling.