LingoflyChecking out a rumor in Serbian
A conversation between two colleagues: a rumor about a workshop closing in Serbian. 9 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Јеси (Jesi) ли (li) у току (u toku)? Почело се причати (počelo se pričati) да (da) затварају (zatvaraju) погон (pogon).» — Are you in the know? Word is going around that the workshop is closing; «Чуо (čuo) сам (sam), али (ali) само (samo) по чувењу (po čuvenju). Има (ima) ли (li) неко (neko) веродостојан (verodostojan) извор (izvor)?» — I've heard, but only hearsay. Does anyone have a reliable source?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a conversation between two colleagues: a rumor about a workshop closing. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Jesi li u toku? Počelo se pričati da zatvaraju pogon.Are you in the know? Word is going around that the workshop is closing.
- Slažem se. Trebalo bi temeljno preispitati šta smo čuli.Agreed. It would be worth double-checking thoroughly what we've heard.
Lines one by one
| Serbian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Јеси (Jesi) ли (li) у току (u toku)? Почело се причати (počelo se pričati) да (da) затварају (zatvaraju) погон (pogon). | Jesi li u toku? Počelo se pričati da zatvaraju pogon. | Are you in the know? Word is going around that the workshop is closing. |
| Чуо (čuo) сам (sam), али (ali) само (samo) по чувењу (po čuvenju). Има (ima) ли (li) неко (neko) веродостојан (verodostojan) извор (izvor)? | Čuo sam, ali samo po čuvenju. Ima li neko verodostojan izvor? | I've heard, but only hearsay. Does anyone have a reliable source? |
| Нема (Nema) доказа (dokaza). То (to) је (je) за (za) сад (Sad) нагађање (nagađanje), а (a) не (ne) сазнање. | Nema dokaza. To je za sad nagađanje, a ne saznanje. | There's no proof. So far it's a guess, not verified information. |
| Ипак (ipak), бројке (brojke) говоре нешто (nešto). Продаја (Prodaja) је (je) нагло (naglo) пала (pala) после (posle) лета (leta). | Ipak, brojke govore nešto. Prodaja je naglo pala posle leta. | Still, the numbers do say something. Sales dropped sharply after the summer. |
| Пад (pad) продаје (prodaje) није (nije) доказ (dokaz) затварања. То (to) је (je) само (samo) један (jedan) разлог (razlog) од (od) многих. | Pad prodaje nije dokaz zatvaranja. To je samo jedan razlog od mnogih. | A drop in sales isn't proof of a closure. It's just one argument among many. |
| Слажем (slažem) се (se). Требало (trebalo) би (bi) темељно (temeljno) преиспитати (preispitati) шта (šta) смо (smo) чули (čuli). | Slažem se. Trebalo bi temeljno preispitati šta smo čuli. | Agreed. It would be worth double-checking thoroughly what we've heard. |
| Питаћу (Pitaću) директно шефа (šefa). Ако (ako) не (ne) одговори, испоставиће се (se) и (i) без (bez) њега (njega). | Pitaću direktno šefa. Ako ne odgovori, ispostaviće se i bez njega. | I'll ask the boss directly. If he doesn't answer, it will come out without him. |
| Само (samo) немој (Nemoj) површно (površno). Питај (pitaj) и (i) књиговођу, он (on) зна (zna) бројке (brojke). | Samo nemoj površno. Pitaj i knjigovođu, on zna brojke. | Just not superficially. Ask the accountant too; he knows the numbers. |
| Добро (dobro). До тада (do tada) ништа (ništa) не (ne) преносим даље (dalje), да (da) не (ne) ширим заблуду. | Dobro. Do tada ništa ne prenosim dalje, da ne širim zabludu. | Okay. Until then I'm not passing anything on, so as not to spread the misconception. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Serbian in this situation?
“Јеси (Jesi) ли (li) у току (u toku)? Почело се причати (počelo se pričati) да (da) затварају (zatvaraju) погон (pogon).” (Jesi li u toku? Počelo se pričati da zatvaraju pogon.) — Are you in the know? Word is going around that the workshop is closing. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.