LingoflyFalse friends: the main content of this course
Serbian will flatter you. Whole stretches of it look transparent: international words, Latin loans, plain look-alikes. For example: “право” (pravo) — STRAIGHT (to the right is "desno"). A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Serbian will flatter you. Whole stretches of it look transparent: international words, Latin loans, plain look-alikes.
That resemblance is the trap. The words you feel sure of can be the very ones that mislead you, and nothing prompts you to check.
So start with the list below rather than with a dictionary.
Table
| the Serbian word | means | and not |
|---|---|---|
| pravo | straight ahead | to the right (that is desno) |
| sat | an hour, a clock | the past of "to sit" |
| reč | a word | speech |
| ponos | pride | bonus |
| vredan | hardworking | harmful |
| iskusan | experienced | artful |
| sutra | tomorrow | in the morning |
| voće | fruit | vegetables |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
False friends: how does it work in Serbian?
Serbian will flatter you. Whole stretches of it look transparent: international words, Latin loans, plain look-alikes.
What does it look like in a Serbian example sentence?
“право” (pravo) — STRAIGHT (to the right is "desno"). A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.