LingoflyWe're moving on Saturday in Serbian
A phone call with a moving company in Serbian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добар дан (dobar dan), зовем (Zovem) због (zbog) селидбе (selidbe). Селимо (Selimo) се (se) у (u) суботу (subotu) ујутру (ujutru).» — Good afternoon, I'm calling about a move. We're moving on Saturday morning; «Може (Može). Колико (koliko) соба (soba) и (i) на (na) ком спрату (spratu) сте (ste) сада (sada)?» — Okay. How many rooms, and what floor are you on now? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a phone call with a moving company. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Ništa strašno, iznećemo ga kroz terasu. Prevoz stvari naplaćujemo po satu.No problem, we'll carry it out through the terrace. We charge for the move by the hour.
- A da li biste mogli da odnesete i stari orman na deponiju?And could you also take the old wardrobe to the dump?
Lines one by one
| Serbian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добар дан (dobar dan), зовем (Zovem) због (zbog) селидбе (selidbe). Селимо (Selimo) се (se) у (u) суботу (subotu) ујутру (ujutru). | Dobar dan, zovem zbog selidbe. Selimo se u subotu ujutru. | Good afternoon, I'm calling about a move. We're moving on Saturday morning. |
| Може (Može). Колико (koliko) соба (soba) и (i) на (na) ком спрату (spratu) сте (ste) сада (sada)? | Može. Koliko soba i na kom spratu ste sada? | Okay. How many rooms, and what floor are you on now? |
| Две (dve) собе (sobe), четврти (četvrti) спрат (sprat), а (a) лифт (lift) је (je) мали (mali). | Dve sobe, četvrti sprat, a lift je mali. | Two rooms, the fourth floor, and the elevator is small. |
| Онда (onda) шаљемо три (tri) носача (nosača) и (i) камион (kamion). Јесте ли (li) већ (već) спаковали (Spakovali) ствари (stvari)? | Onda šaljemo tri nosača i kamion. Jeste li već spakovali stvari? | Then we'll send three movers and a truck. Are your things packed already? |
| Књиге (knjige) и (i) посуђе (posuđe) јесмо, намештај (nameštaj) нисмо (nismo). Кауч (kauč) се (se) не (ne) расклапа. | Knjige i posuđe jesmo, nameštaj nismo. Kauč se ne rasklapa. | The books and the dishes are packed, the furniture isn't. The couch doesn't come apart. |
| Ништа (ništa) страшно (strašno), изнећемо га (ga) кроз (kroz) терасу. Превоз ствари (prevoz stvari) наплаћујемо по (po) сату (satu). | Ništa strašno, iznećemo ga kroz terasu. Prevoz stvari naplaćujemo po satu. | No problem, we'll carry it out through the terrace. We charge for the move by the hour. |
| А (a) да ли бисте могли (da li biste mogli) да (da) однесете и (i) стари (stari) орман (orman) на (na) депонију? | A da li biste mogli da odnesete i stari orman na deponiju? | And could you also take the old wardrobe to the dump? |
| Можемо (Možemo), то (to) се (se) посебно (posebno) плаћа (plaća). Видимо се (vidimo se) у (u) суботу (subotu) у (u) осам (osam) испред (ispred) улаза (ulaza). | Možemo, to se posebno plaća. Vidimo se u subotu u osam ispred ulaza. | We can; that's paid separately. See you on Saturday at eight by the entrance. |
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?
“Добар дан (dobar dan), зовем (Zovem) због (zbog) селидбе (selidbe). Селимо (Selimo) се (se) у (u) суботу (subotu) ујутру (ujutru).” (Dobar dan, zovem zbog selidbe. Selimo se u subotu ujutru.) — Good afternoon, I'm calling about a move. We're moving on Saturday morning. 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.