LingoflyAt the shoe store in Serbian
A store downtown, a customer is looking for shoes in Serbian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Извините (izvinite), тражим (Tražim) црне (crne) ципеле (cipele).» — Excuse me, I'm looking for black shoes; «Који (Koji) број (broj) носите?» — What's your size? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a store downtown, a customer is looking for shoes. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Naravno. Kabina za probanje je desno.Of course. The fitting room is on the right.
Lines one by one
| Serbian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Извините (izvinite), тражим (Tražim) црне (crne) ципеле (cipele). | Izvinite, tražim crne cipele. | Excuse me, I'm looking for black shoes. |
| Који (Koji) број (broj) носите? | Koji broj nosite? | What's your size? |
| Четрдесет (četrdeset) други (drugi). Могу (mogu) ли (li) да (da) пробам (probam) ове (Ove)? | Četrdeset drugi. Mogu li da probam ove? | Forty-two. May I try these on? |
| Наравно (naravno). Кабина за пробање је десно (Kabina za probanje je desno). | Naravno. Kabina za probanje je desno. | Of course. The fitting room is on the right. |
| Превелике су (su) ми (mi). Имате ли (Imate li) мањи (manji) број (broj)? | Prevelike su mi. Imate li manji broj? | They're too big for me. Is there a smaller size? |
| Имам (Imam), али (ali) само (samo) у (u) браон (braon) боји. Пробајте. | Imam, ali samo u braon boji. Probajte. | There is, but only in brown. Try them on. |
| Ове (Ove) одговарају. Узећу (uzeću) их (ih) и (i) овај (ovaj) шал (šal). | Ove odgovaraju. Uzeću ih i ovaj šal. | These fit. I'll take them and this scarf. |
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?
“Извините (izvinite), тражим (Tražim) црне (crne) ципеле (cipele).” (Izvinite, tražim crne cipele.) — Excuse me, I'm looking for black shoes. 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.