LingoflyTrećina, desetak, dvostruko: fractions, approximation, multiples
Saying "a third", "about ten people" and "twice as much" takes three different suffixes. For example: “Трећина (trećina) посла (posla) је (je) готова (gotova), остатак (ostatak) радимо (radimo) сутра” (sutra) — A third of the work is done; we do the rest tomorrow. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Saying "a third", "about ten people" and "twice as much" takes three different suffixes.
Fractions come from -ina. Treći → trećina, četvrti → četvrtina, deseti → desetina. Half keeps a word of its own: polovina, or the short pola. After a fraction comes the of-form: trećina posla.
Approximation comes from -ak. Deset → desetak — about ten, petnaest → petnaestak, sto → stotinak. English shuffles words around for this; Serbian glues on a suffix and leaves the order alone.
Multiples come from -struko. Dvostruko — twice over, trostruko — three times over, višestruko — several times over. And a change of size comes in on za: cena je porasla za deset posto — the price rose by ten percent.
Table
| what we say | how it is built | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| a fraction | ordinal + -ina | trećina, četvrtina | a third, a quarter |
| half | its own word | polovina, pola | half |
| approximation | number + -ak | desetak, petnaestak | about ten, some fifteen |
| about a hundred | sto + -inak | stotinak | a hundred or so |
| multiples | number + -struko | dvostruko, trostruko | twice, three times over |
| several times over | više + -struko | višestruko manje | several times less |
| a change of size | za + object form | za deset posto | by ten percent |
| comparison | nego + an adverb or the same case | veći nego lane | bigger than last year |
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
Trećina, desetak, dvostruko: how does it work in Serbian?
Saying "a third", "about ten people" and "twice as much" takes three different suffixes.
What does it look like in a Serbian example sentence?
“Трећина (trećina) посла (posla) је (je) готова (gotova), остатак (ostatak) радимо (radimo) сутра” (sutra) (Trećina posla je gotova, ostatak radimo sutra) — A third of the work is done; we do the rest tomorrow. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.