Pet hiljada dinara: the of-plural and everything that gets counted
After two, three and four comes one shape of the noun; from five up, another. That second one is the of-plural, and without it you cannot name a sum or a span. For example: “Стан кошта педесет хиљада евра, а поправка пет стотина” — The apartment costs fifty thousand euros, and the repair five hundred. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
After two, three and four comes one shape of the noun; from five up, another. That second one is the of-plural, and without it you cannot name a sum or a span.
What it looks like. Most words take -a: pet dinara, pet godina, pet mesta. Feminine words on a consonant take -i: pet stvari, pet noći. One word is its own case: pet ljudi.
Where it is obligatory. After five and up: pet evra, deset minuta, sto dinara. After koliko, mnogo and nekoliko: koliko ljudi. After nema and bez: nema para.
And the rule everyone trips on. Counting goes by the last digit: dvadeset jedan dinar, dvadeset dva dinara, dvadeset pet dinara.
Table
| the word | two, three, four | five and up | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| dinar | dva dinara | pet dinara | dinar |
| evro | dva evra | pet evra | euro |
| godina | dve godine | pet godina | year |
| minut | dva minuta | pet minuta | minute |
| čovek | dva čoveka | pet ljudi | person |
| hiljada | dve hiljade | pet hiljada | thousand |
| milion | dva miliona | pet miliona | million |
| procenat | dva procenta | pet procenata | percent |
By example
- Стан кошта педесет хиљада евра, а поправка пет стотинаStan košta pedeset hiljada evra, a popravka pet stotinaThe apartment costs fifty thousand euros, and the repair five hundred
- Има двадесет један динар у џепу и ништа вишеIma dvadeset jedan dinar u džepu i ništa višeHe has twenty-one dinars in his pocket and nothing more
- Колико људи ради у фирми? Око сто двадесетKoliko ljudi radi u firmi? Oko sto dvadesetHow many people work at the company? About a hundred and twenty
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
Pet hiljada dinara: how does it work in Serbian?
After two, three and four comes one shape of the noun; from five up, another. That second one is the of-plural, and without it you cannot name a sum or a span.
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“Стан кошта педесет хиљада евра, а поправка пет стотина” (Stan košta pedeset hiljada evra, a popravka pet stotina) — The apartment costs fifty thousand euros, and the repair five hundred. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.