Dvoje dece and petorica: Serbian counts people in four rows
This unit is all about people — residents, neighbors, volunteers — and it turns out Serbian does not count people the way it counts things. There are four counting rows, and the choice is obligatory: "dva ljudi" is impossible and marks a foreigner at once. English counts people and tables identically; this is a habit to build from zero. For example: “У стану живе двоје деце и троје одраслих” — Two children and three…
How it works
This unit is all about people — residents, neighbors, volunteers — and it turns out Serbian does not count people the way it counts things. There are four counting rows, and the choice is obligatory: "dva ljudi" is impossible and marks a foreigner at once. English counts people and tables identically; this is a habit to build from zero.
Row one — plain numbers, for things and for groups of men. Dva čoveka, tri radnika, pet ljudi. This is how you count men when their being men is not the point.
Row two — women. Women are counted with the feminine shape of the number: jedna žena, dve žene, tri žene, pet žena. The split shows only on two: dva for masculine and neuter, dve for feminine.
Row three — the collectives: dvoje, troje, četvoro, petoro. They are needed in two cases. First: a mixed company — dvoje studenata means a young man and a young woman, while dva studenta means two young men. Second: children and younglings, whose plural is collective — dvoje dece, troje unučadi. After a collective comes the plural of-form: četvoro ljudi.
Row four — the masculine collective: dvojica, trojica, četvorica, petorica. Men only, and only as a group: dvojica su došla — the two of them came, petorica radnika — five workmen. The word itself is grammatically feminine — that men get counted by a feminine word surprises everyone.
Both. Oba — two men or two masculine things; obe — two women; oboje — he and she together. Obojica — two men as a group.
Agreement. After a collective the verb usually goes neuter plural: dvoje dece je došlo, troje ih je ostalo. After dvojica — masculine plural: dvojica su došla. This is the one spot where Serbian is stricter than English, and the one where the slip is heard immediately.
Table
| who we count | the form | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| things, men | dva, tri, pet | dva stola, pet ljudi | two tables, five people |
| women | dve, tri, pet | dve žene, pet žena | two women, five women |
| a mixed group | dvoje, troje | dvoje studenata | two students (he and she) |
| children, younglings | dvoje, troje | dvoje dece | two children |
| men as a group | dvojica, petorica | petorica radnika | five workmen |
| both (m. and n.) | oba | oba brata | both brothers |
| both (f.) | obe | obe sestre | both sisters |
| he and she | oboje | oboje su došli | the two of them came |
By example
- У стану живе двоје деце и троје одраслихU stanu žive dvoje dece i troje odraslihTwo children and three adults live in the apartment
- Двојица радника су остала до касно, а две колегинице су отишлеDvojica radnika su ostala do kasno, a dve koleginice su otišleTwo workmen stayed late, and two colleagues went home
- Обоје су волонтери, а оба брата су у војсциOboje su volonteri, a oba brata su u vojsciBoth of them are volunteers, and both brothers are in the army
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
Dvoje dece and petorica: how does it work in Serbian?
This unit is all about people — residents, neighbors, volunteers — and it turns out Serbian does not count people the way it counts things. There are four counting rows, and the choice is obligatory: "dva ljudi" is impossible and marks a foreigner at once. English counts people and tables…
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“У стану живе двоје деце и троје одраслих” (U stanu žive dvoje dece i troje odraslih) — Two children and three adults live in the apartment. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.