Serbian and Slovenian: how they differ
Both are Slavic, both are in the former Yugoslavia, and a person choosing a country to move to often chooses the language along with it. In short: Choose by the country, not by difficulty: the difference between them is smaller than the difference between “learning the language of the city I live in” and “learning a language in general”.
Side by side
| Serbian | Slovenian | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Indo-European family, Slavic group | Indo-European family, Slavic group |
| Writing | two equal alphabets: Vukovica (Cyrillic) and Gajevica (Latin) | the Gajevica Latin alphabet with č, š, ž |
| Speakers | about 9–12 million speakers, depending on how you count (Ethnologue) | about 2.5 million speakers (Ethnologue) |
| Official in | Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro | Slovenia and the EU |
| The hardest part | cases that do not match English prepositions, and “false friends” at every step | the dual number — a third form beside singular and plural |
| What comes easily | spelled the way it sounds, loanwords you already know | spelled by the rules, compact grammar, no articles |
Point by point
Writing
Serbian has two equal alphabets: Cyrillic (Vukovica) and Latin (Gajica), and neighbouring signs can show either. Slovenian is written in Latin only.
Grammar
Slovenian has the dual number — a separate form for “two”, a third beside the singular and plural. Serbian does not. Both have cases, and in both they fail to match the Russian ones.
What is easier for a Russian speaker
Serbian: the Cyrillic is familiar, the vocabulary recognizable from day one. Slovenian takes getting used to its Latin script and dual number, but its grammar is more compact.
“False friends”
There are many in both, and they are more dangerous than unfamiliar words: you will ask again about an unfamiliar word, but not about one you understood wrongly.
Which to choose
Choose by the country, not by difficulty: the difference between them is smaller than the difference between “learning the language of the city I live in” and “learning a language in general”.
Frequently asked
Which is easier: Serbian or Slovenian?
Comparing them by difficulty is almost pointless: cases that do not match English prepositions, and “false friends” at every step versus the dual number — a third form beside singular and plural. Choose by the country, not by difficulty: the difference between them is smaller than the difference between “learning the language of the city I live in” and “learning a language in general”.
Are Serbian and Slovenian similar languages?
Serbian has two equal alphabets: Cyrillic (Vukovica) and Latin (Gajica), and neighbouring signs can show either. Slovenian is written in Latin only.