Basic words in Serbian
306 words Serbian words on the topic “basic words”: да — yes, не — no, добро — fine, лоше — badly. 306 words can be played from recordings.
306 words on the topic
- даdayesAlso the linker before verbs: hocu da idem — "I want to go". Serbian almost never uses the infinitive after a main verb; da plus the present does the job.
- неnenoOne word for the answer "no" and for negating any verb: ne razumem — "I do not understand". No helper verb, just put ne in front.
- доброdobrofineThe standard answer to kako si: dobro sam — "I am fine". Well-being, approval, acceptable plans — one word covers them all.
- лошеlošebadlyš sounds like "sh" in "ship". The plain opposite of dobro — use it for how you feel or how things went.
- одличноodličnoexcellentThe adverb from odlican, "excellent". In Serbian schools odlican is also the top grade — the straight-A word.
- иiandAlso an emphatic "even": i on je došao — "even he came". Position in the sentence tells the two jobs apart.
- алиalibutOpens the second clause, as in English. After a negative, Serbian switches to nego: nije čaj, nego kafa — "not tea but coffee".
- половинаpolovinahalfThe short form pola is more frequent: pola kile, pola sata.
- не треба миne treba miI do not need itImpersonal treba: the needed thing stands in the plain form — ne treba mi kesa — "I do not need a bag".
- још једанjoš jedanone moreWith feminine nouns: još jedna; neuter: još jedno. The order phrase that never stops being useful.
- довољноdovoljnoenoughFrom the old word for "as much as the heart desires". Dovoljno, hvala — and the vendor stops pouring.
- укупноukupnoin totalThe sum line: ukupno 850 dinara. "Everything" in the sense of "entirely" is a different word — sve.
- величинаveličinasizeFrom velik, "big". For clothes and shoes they ask differently: koji broj? — "which number?"
- вишеvišemoreThe comparative of mnogo. Also "more than": više od sto dinara — "more than a hundred dinars".
- мањеmanjelessnje is one soft sound: ma-nje.
- тежакtežakheavyFleeting a: tezak, but teska, tesko — and the z-with-hachek devoices to sh at the end.
- лакlaklight (in weight)Not "cheap" and not lacquer: lak is what weighs little. Laku noć from unit one is literally "an easy night".
- новnovnewA short form with no ending: nov stan — "a new apartment". The long form is novi.
- старstaroldAbout things and about people: koliko ste stari? — "how old are you?", literally "how old are you-plural".
- покваренpokvarenbrokenBroken down and spoiled alike: pokvaren lift, but also pokvareno meso — "spoiled meat".
- у реду јеu redu jeeverything is fineLiterally "it is in order", from red — queue and order in one word. Also "deal, agreed, all right then".
- све је доброsve je dobroeverything is all rightSve is "everything"; svi is "everyone" — two letters, two different things.
- човекčovekpersonThe plural breaks the rule: not "coveci" but ljudi. A word to memorize separately, once and for all.
- једанаестjedanaestelevenBuilt as "one on ten", and you can see both parts in the word. From eleven on, the noun after a number takes the genitive plural: jedanaest dinara.
- дванаестdvanaesttwelveA regular "two-plus-ten". From this number up, count nouns stay genitive plural: dvanaest jaja — literally "twelve of eggs".
- тринаестtrinaestthirteenStraight from tri with no changes. Numbers from eleven to nineteen never change their form, whatever case the neighboring words slide into.
- четрнаестčetrnaestfourteenFrom cetiri with the i dropped: cetrnaest. The r works as a vowel there — Serbian r can carry a whole syllable by itself.
- петнаестpetnaestfifteenA quarter of an hour is cetvrt sata, but clocks and schedules just say the number: petnaest minuta. Minuta there is genitive plural, not singular.
- шеснаестšesnaestsixteenFrom sest with the t dropped: sesnaest. English "sixteen" keeps its t; Serbian does not — one of the small mismatches to memorize.
- седамнаестsedamnaestseventeenFrom sedam, complete and unchanged. Ljudi ("people") after it is genitive plural — and Serbian uses ljudi instead of "persons" for any count from five up.
- осамнаестosamnaesteighteenFrom osam. Eighteen is the age of majority in Serbia — the word behind voting and getting a driving licence.
- деветнаестdevetnaestnineteenThe last of the -naest family. The tens that follow are built differently, so this is the edge of the easy pattern.
- двадесетdvadesettwentyLiterally "two-ten". Units follow with no "and": dvadeset jedan, dvadeset pet. The noun form follows the last digit, not the whole number.
- тридесетtridesetthirtytri + deset, and the row continues transparently up to ninety. After any ten the noun goes genitive plural: trideset godina — "thirty of years".
- четрдесетčetrdesetfortyLike cetrnaest, it loses the i: cetrdeset. There is no special word here — the row stays perfectly regular.
- педесетpedesetfiftyFrom pet with the t dropped: pedeset, not petdeset. The same simplification returns in sezdeset.
- шездесетšezdesetsixtySpelled sezdeset, not sestdeset — the st simplifies and voices before d. Native speakers misspell it too, so do not despair.
- седамдесетsedamdesetseventyStraight from sedam with nothing shaved off — unlike pedeset and sezdeset. "The seventies" is sedamdesete.
- осамдесетosamdeseteightyFrom osam, untouched as well. English slipped a v into "eighty"; Serbian kept the word as it grew — osam + deset.
- деведесетdevedesetninetyFrom devet with the t dropped: devedeset. The word looks nothing like English "ninety" — just learn it as its own shape.
- стоstoone hundredA perfect homonym of sto, "table": the noun declines — stola, stolu — while the number never bends. Two hundred and three hundred fuse solid: dvesta, trista.
- хиљадаhiljadathousandA feminine noun that behaves like one in counting: jedna hiljada, dve hiljade, pet hiljada. And after it another genitive: pet hiljada dinara — "five thousand of dinars".
- милионmilionmillionMasculine and declined like a noun: dva miliona, pet miliona. Spelled with one l — milion — however much your fingers want to double it.
- нулаnulazeroFeminine and declined: ispod nule — "below zero". In scores you hear it after the number: dva-nula — "two-nil".
- првиprvifirstOrdinals are full adjectives: prvi dan, prva nedelja, prvo mesto — they agree in gender and decline completely, unlike English "first".
- другиdrugisecondThe same word means "other": drugi put is both "the second time" and "another time". Genders: druga, drugo.
- трећиtrećithirdThe only ordinal with a soft ć: treci, treca, trece. After it the row turns regular — cetvrti, peti, sesti.
- последњиposlednjilastA soft nj in the middle: poslednji, poslednja, poslednje. The partner of prvi — "final, the last one in the series".
- коликоkolikohow manyIt never changes itself but demands the genitive plural after it: koliko ljudi — "how many people". The adjective koliki, "of what size", is a different word — do not cross them.
- парparpairA pair of shoes is par cipela; a married couple is also par. Not to be confused with pare — "money", an unrelated word.
- комадkomaditemThe same word as komad, "piece": a piece of bread and a piece of goods share it. In counting: pet komada — genitive plural again.
- проценатprocenatpercentThe fleeting a survives only in the base form: procenat, then dva procenta, pet procenata. Notices prefer odsto — same meaning, one word shorter.
- свакиsvakieveryAgrees like an adjective: svaki dan, svaka nedelja, svako jutro. The noun after it is always singular — "every days" is impossible.
- коkowhoCroatian says tko; Serbian lost the t. It declines: koga "whom", kome "to whom". One form serves one person and ten: ko dolazi?
- заштоzaštowhyGrown together from "for what". The answer starts with zato što: Zašto kasniš? — Zato što nema autobusa. Zato alone means "that is why".
- чемуčemuwhat forLiterally "to what": it asks about purpose, while zašto asks about cause. In live speech purpose is usually asked with zašto too; čemu sounds short and sharp — the start of an objection, not of a chat.
- какавkakavwhat kind ofThe fleeting a survives only in the masculine: kakav, but kakva, kakvo.
- чијиčijiwhoseAgrees with the thing, not the owner: čija torba, čije dete. The answer is a possessive: moj, tvoj, njegov, njen.
- никоnikonobodyThe negation is double, always: niko ne zna — "nobody knows". Without ne the sentence is wrong. After a preposition, the preposition moves inside the word: ni od koga, not "od nikoga".
- нештоneštosomethingBoth "something" and "anything" — Serbian does not split them. Before a number or a comparative it means "somewhat": nešto manje — "a bit less".
- обаobabothMasculine and neuter: oba; feminine: obe. About a man and a woman together: oboje. The noun after it takes the same counting form as after dva.
- не знамne znamI do not knowWritten as two words, stress on ne. Softer: nisam siguran — "I am not sure". Pojma nemam is stronger: "I have no idea".
- видетиvidetito seeThe Belgrade norm; Bosnia and Montenegro say vidjeti. Present: vidim, vidiš, vidi. Vidimo se — "see you" — is this very verb.
- чутиčutito hearPresent: čujem, čuješ, čuje. Listening on purpose is a different verb, slušati: slušam muziku, but čujem te. Čujemo se — "let us be in touch".
- спаватиspavatito sleepPresent: spavam, spavaš, spava. Going to bed is "ići na spavanje", and before that you wish someone laku noć.
- носитиnositito carryOne verb for carrying and for wearing: nosim torbu, nosim kaput. Carry it over there — odneti; bring it here — doneti.
- ставитиstavitito placeFor the one-time act: placed and done. The repeated action is stavljati: stavljam tanjire na sto. The imperative: stavi; polite: stavite.
- ломитиlomitito breakFor things that come apart in pieces: lomiti hleb — "break bread", lomiti granu — "break a branch". Machines do not lomiti — they se kvare, which is where pokvaren, "broken", comes from.
- градитиgraditito buildThe root is the same as the fence-building one — nothing to do with hail. What gets built is zgrada; the site is gradilište.
- многоmnogomanyAfter it the noun goes genitive plural: mnogo ljudi, mnogo novca. The same word works as "very": mnogo hvala — "many thanks".
- малоmalolittleBoth "little" and "a bit, no offense": malo soli — "a little salt". The genitive plural after it is the same as after mnogo. Do not cross it with the neuter adjective — malo dete means "a small child".
- мекmeksoftGenders: meka, meko. An equal-rank variant is mekan — mekan krevet. Said of people too: mek — easygoing, yielding.
- тврдtvrdhardA syllable with no vowel: the r between consonants becomes a syllable of its own, so tvrd goes out in one beat.
- мокарmokarwetThe fleeting a survives only in the masculine: mokar, but mokra, mokro.
- сувsuvdryThe Belgrade norm is suv; Bosnia and Montenegro say suh. Genders: suva, suvo. Dried fruit is suvo voće, while suv hleb means stale bread.
- танакtanakthinThe fleeting a again only in the masculine: tanak, but tanka, tanko.
- дубокdubokdeepGenders: duboka, duboko. The depth is dubina. The neuter form doubles as an adverb: diše duboko — "breathe deep".
- округаоokrugaoroundThree syllables: o-kru-gao. The final l has turned into o, as in zreo from unit five.
- кудаkudawhere toAsks about direction. In live speech the same question is often put with gde — gde ideš? — so kuda is heard less than you expect. "Where from" is odakle, from unit one.
- свудаsvudaeverywhereAn equal partner is svugde. Strictly, svuda is about moving through all the places and svugde about being in them, but Serbs mix them up themselves.
- нигдеnigdenowhere (place)Spelled and meant exactly as you would guess. The negation next to it is double: nigde ga nema — "it is nowhere to be found". Belgrade: nigde; Bosnia and Montenegro: nigdje.
- ризикrizika riskSame word. Na sopstveni rizik means at your own risk; rizicno, risky.
- резервни планrezervni plana backup planUsage: imati rezervni plan, nema rezervnog plana. The colloquial form is plan B, exactly like in English.
- неприликаneprilikaa predicamentUsage: upasti u nepriliku, to get into trouble; izvuci se iz neprilike, to get out of it. Note the pair: prilika without ne means an opportunity, it waits in unit twenty-eight.
- разлогrazloga reasonUsage: iz kog razloga, nema razloga za brigu, bez razloga. The fork with the second word: razlog is the reason for an act, uzrok the cause of a phenomenon, uzrok pozara.
- резултатrezultata resultUsage: kao rezultat toga, as a result; rezultati ispita. The same word for the score in a match: rezultat je dva-jedan.
- затоzatothat is whyA trap that flips the sentence: zato alone means therefore, and zato sto means because. The concessive but is assembled from two words, ali zato, it comes in unit twenty-nine.
- зато штоzato štofor the reason thatIt stands before the clause and takes no comma itself, but the comma is needed before it: Ne idem, zato sto pada kisa. The bookish one-word synonym is jer.
- због тогаzbog togabecause of thatUsage: zbog toga sam zakasnio. Zbog takes the genitive: zbog kise, zbog tebe. A neighbor trap: zbogom, together, means farewell.
- зависити одzavisiti odto depend onGrammar: zavisi od vremena, genitive after od. The most common answer in conversation is one word: zavisi, it depends.
- објаснити разлогobjasniti razlogto explain the reasonDouble government: dative to a person, accusative to a thing, objasni mi razlog. The noun objasnjenje was in unit twenty.
- циљcilja goalUsage: postici cilj, to reach a goal; s ciljem da, with the aim of. Cilj is also the finish in a race. A purpose as a designation is svrha from unit twenty-seven.
- смисаоsmisaothe pointUsage: nema smisla, there is no point; u tom smislu, in that sense; smisao zivota. A trap: misao without s means a thought and is feminine.
- закључакzaključaka conclusionUsage: doneti zakljucak, to draw a conclusion; zakljucak je jasan. From zakljucati, to lock: a conclusion locks the reasoning.
- приликаprilikaan opportunityUsage decides everything: propustiti priliku, to miss the chance; imati priliku da, iskoristiti priliku. Prilika is a lucky opening; possibility as capacity is mogucnost, postoji mogucnost da. And remember neprilika from unit twenty-five, it is not its negation.
- могућеmogućeit is possibleUsage: moguce je da kasni, to je sasvim moguce. A hedging maybe at the start of a phrase sounds rather like mozda: Mozda ce padati kisa.
- немогућеnemogućeit is impossibleUsage: nemoguce je stici na vreme, to je nemoguce. Written as one word; a softer version is nije moguce.
- потребаpotrebaa needUsage: nema potrebe, no need; po potrebi, as needed; osecam potrebu da. From here also trebati, to be needed.
- обавезноobaveznoby all meansUsage: obavezno dodji, do come; obavezno osiguranje, compulsory insurance. From obaveza, a duty, from unit twenty-three.
- мораћуmoraćuI will have toThe future of morati, written as one word: moracu da idem. A negation trap: necu morati means I will not have to, not I refuse.
- дозвољеноdozvoljenopermittedUsage: ovde je dozvoljeno parkiranje, nije dozvoljeno. A participle from dozvoliti, hence also dozvola, a permit.
- забрањеноzabranjenoforbiddenUsage: zabranjeno pusanje, zabranjen ulaz: the word agrees with what is banned. The most common sign in the country.
- изборizbora choiceUsage: nemam izbora, I have no choice; na izbor, on offer. A number trap: the plural izbori means elections, not several choices.
- варијантаvarijantaan optionUsage: postoje dve varijante, nema druge varijante. Opcija walks alongside; the everyday sense of variant is exactly varijanta.
- сумњаsumnjadoubtThe nj is soft: sum-nya.
- сумњатиsumnjatito doubtThe government switches the sense: sumnjam da ce doci, I doubt he will come; sumnjam u njega, I suspect him. The preposition u turns doubt into suspicion.
- сигуранsiguransureUsage: siguran sam da; feminine sigurna sam. The second meaning is safe: sigurno mesto. The fleeting a drops: sigurni.
- тешко даteško dahardlyIt stands at the start, then a personal verb form: Tesko da ce stici. Literally hard that, which is how Serbian says hardly. No infinitive after it.
- ваљдаvaljdahopefullyUsage: valjda ce biti dobro, hope with a shade of let it be so. The neutral maybe without hope is verovatno: verovatno je kod kuce.
- сигурноsigurnofor sureA pair trap: sigurno is certainty about a guess, sigurno dolazi; tachno is exactness, tachno u pet, to je tachno.
- чини ми сеčini mi seit seems to meAn impersonal turn with the dative, and the dative changes with the person: cini mi se, cini mu se, cini nam se. After it always da and a personal verb.
- у ствариu stvariactuallyIt introduces a correction to what was said, at the start with a comma or inside the phrase: U stvari, nisam siguran. Two words; the synonym is zapravo.
- претпоставитиpretpostavitito supposeUsage: pretpostavljam da jeste, I suppose so. The noun pretpostavka is an assumption, a hypothesis.
- нисам сигуранnisam siguranI am not sureA woman says nisam sigurna: the adjective agrees with the speaker, not the object. The politest way to disagree without starting a fight.
- искуствоiskustvoexperienceUsage: iz iskustva znam, imam iskustva sa tim, genitive after imati. A scientific experiment is ogled, not iskustvo.
- случајslučaja caseUsage: u tom slucaju, u svakom slucaju, in any case; u slucaju pozara. From here the adverb slucajno in unit twenty-nine.
- примерprimeran exampleUsage: dati primer, na primeru se bolje vidi. A trap: primerak is a copy, of a document, not an example.
- на примерna primerfor exampleTwo words, set off by commas inside the phrase: Volim voce, na primer jabuke. Shortened to npr.
- разликаrazlikaa differenceUsage: u cemu je razlika, za razliku od, unlike; nema razlike. Related to razlikovati se, to differ.
- поређењеpoređenjea comparisonThe dj is soft, and the nj at the end too: po-re-dje-nje.
- разликовати сеrazlikovati seto differGrammar: razlikuje se od toga, the preposition od and the genitive. Without se the verb means to tell apart: ne razlikujem boje.
- сличанsličansimilarIt governs the dative with no preposition: slican ocu, like his father. The English pattern with to does not carry over. Feminine slicna; the fleeting a drops: slicni.
- сличностsličnosta resemblanceUsage: postoji slicnost medju njima, razlike i slicnosti. Feminine on a consonant, like vest and stvar.
- променаpromenaa changeUsage: promena vremena, a change in the weather; doci do promene, to come about. From promeniti; in the Croatian variant promjena.
- као првоkao prvofirst of allIt stands at the very start and takes a comma. A comma-set introduction does not count as the first place, so the clitics come after it inside the sentence: Kao prvo, to je preskupo, not Kao prvo je to preskupo.
- као другоkao drugosecondlyThe same order as kao prvo: at the start, a comma, then the whole sentence. You can count without kao: prvo, drugo, trece.
- пре свегаpre svegaabove allIt lives in two spots: at the start with a comma, Pre svega, hvala vam, and inside the phrase without one, Hvala vam pre svega na strpljenju. At the start it must open the list.
- осим тогаosim togabesidesAt the start and with a comma: Osim toga, kasno je. A trap: osim with the genitive means except, svi osim mene, and that second meaning does not go away.
- узгредuzgredby the wayIt introduces a side remark, at the start with a comma: Uzgred, zvao te je brat. The full form is uzgred bidi receno. A trap: usput means on the way, literally.
- углавномuglavnomall in allIt does two jobs. Inside the phrase without a comma it means mostly: uglavnom radim od kuce. At the start with a comma it sums up, and that is all in all: Uglavnom, nismo stigli.
- укратко реченоukratko rečenoin shortAt the start and with a comma: Ukratko receno, ne vredi. The order inside does not change, receno comes second. Shorter, people say one word, ukratko.
- другим речимаdrugim rečimain other wordsAt the start and with a comma: Drugim recima, odustajemo. The instrumental plural of rec, no preposition: the case does all the work itself.
- главна стварglavna stvarthe main thingSerbian does not turn an adjective into a noun as easily as English. The main thing is that all are alive is glavno je da su svi zivi, where je holds the second place. As a standalone noun people take glavna stvar or ono najvaznije.
- на крају крајеваna kraju krajevaafter allAt the start with a comma or inside the phrase without one: Na kraju krajeva, sami smo krivi. The literal image matches English word for word; shorter is just na kraju.
- иакоiakoalthoughA conjunction, not an introduction: it takes no comma itself, but the clause with it does if it comes first, Iako je hladno, setamo, and none if it comes after, Setamo iako je hladno. The clitic je sits right after iako.
- али затоali zatobut thenThe main trap of the unit: Serbian zato on its own means therefore, so the concessive but has to be assembled from two words. It stands between the parts, with the comma before ali: Skupo je, ali zato traje.
- напротивnaprotivon the contraryIt contradicts what was said in full, at the start with a comma: Naprotiv, bilo je zanimljivo. A trap: obrnuto also translates as the other way round, but it means reverse order, uradi obrnuto.
- упркосuprkosin spite ofIt takes the dative, and that is the classic learner mistake: uprkos kisi, uprkos svemu, uprkos tome sto pada kisa.
- међутимmeđutimhoweverAn introduction, not a conjunction: it always takes a comma, and the count of the second place starts after it, Medjutim, on je zakasnio, not Medjutim je on zakasnio. It can also stand inside: On je, medjutim, zakasnio.
- с једне странеs jedne straneon the one handAt the start, with a comma, and almost always asking for the pair s druge strane further on. The preposition s stands before a consonant, sa before sibilants and awkward clusters.
- с друге странеs druge straneon the other handThe second half of the pair, but it lives alone too, and then it means though. The literal sense is intact: s druge strane ulice means on the other side of the street.
- па ипакpa ipakeven soIt stands between the parts or opens the second one: Umoran sam, pa ipak idem. A single ipak means still and can be the first or the second word: Ipak cu doci, or Doci cu ipak.
- уместо тогаumesto togainsteadAt the start and with a comma: Umesto toga, ostali smo kod kuce. Umesto takes the genitive: umesto kafe, umesto mene.
- свеједноsvejednoit does not matterTwo uses and two places. As a predicate with the dative: svejedno mi je, I do not care. As an adverb before the verb: svejedno idem, I am going anyway, and no comma is needed.
- случајноslučajnoby accidentTwo uses. Plain: slucajno sam cuo, I overheard it by chance. A polite softener of a question: da li slucajno znate gde je salter, do you happen to know.
- намерноnamernodeliberatelyFrom namera, an intention, the pair of slucajno: nisam namerno. A trap: the everyday on purpose is namerno, while specijalno means especially, of a special kind.
- неуспехneuspeha setbackThe pair of uspeh, built like the English word. The colloquial baksuz means bad luck and the person who has it.
- корак по коракkorak po korakstep by stepSerbian repeats the word through po, not through by: korak po korak, malo po malo, rec po rec. Fleeting a: korak, but koraka.
- редослед коракаredosled korakathe order of stepsRed is both order and queue, so the sequence is named more precisely: redosled. Serbian counts the steps where English speaks of actions.
- детаљноdetaljnoin detailThere is no native word: a detail is detalj. People also say opsirno when the story is long.
- својим речимаsvojim rečimain your own wordsThe instrumental with no preposition. Svoj here is compulsory; mojim recima is said only in contrast with someone elses.
- једноставније реченоjednostavnije rečenosimply putThe pair of the familiar ukratko receno: Serbian builds such turns with the participle receno, not with a gerund.
- наведи примерnavedi primergive an exampleIn Serbian an example is not led but cited: navesti primer, navesti razlog. Dovesti means to bring a person.
- покажи како се то радиpokaži kako se to radishow how it is doneAn impersonal se instead of the passive: there is no doer and none is needed. Serbian puts no comma before kako.
- јасно?jasno?clear?One word with a questioning intonation. Softer is je li jasno, and stricter jesmo li se razumeli.
- сад ми је јасноsad mi je jasnonow it is clearThe person is in the dative: it is clear not in general but to me. Sad is the colloquial form of sada; both are fine.
- збунио сам сеzbunio sam seI got confusedZbuniti se is to be thrown off and tangled in thought. To tangle in wires is zaplesti se, and zbunjen means thrown off balance.
- сетити сеsetiti seto recallIt takes the genitive: setio sam se broja, ne mogu da se setim imena. To remind someone else is podsetiti, with the prefix pod-.
- заборавитиzaboravitito fail to rememberThe pair of zapamtiti, to memorize. The imperfective is zaboravljati, and zaborav is oblivion.
- намераnameraan intentionHence namerno, on purpose, and nenamerno, by accident. Imam nameru da sounds more official than planiram.
- предомислити сеpredomisliti seto change ones mindAlways with se: predomislio sam se. Razmisliti is to think over, premisliti sounds bookish, and predomisliti se is exactly to change a decision.
- све иде по плануsve ide po planueverything is on trackSerbian adds the verb where English does without it: not sve po planu but sve ide po planu. Po here takes the locative.
- ако успемako uspemif it works outEnglish hides the speaker in it works out; Serbian names him: ako uspem, if I manage. The impersonal variant also exists: ako bude moguce.
- још нисам одлучиоjoš nisam odlučioI have not decided yetJos nisam means not yet; the word while is not needed here, and dok means while only in a time clause. The feminine is jos nisam odlucila.
- све се променилоsve se promeniloeverything has changedThe reflexive se instead of the English ending, and it stands in the second place: sve SE promenilo, not sve promenilo se.
- набољеnaboljefor the betterWritten as one word and works as an adverb: krenulo je nabolje. The separate na bolje turns up only if a noun follows.
- нагореnagorefor the worseAlso one word, and with the mountain it has nothing to do: gore here is worse, the comparative of loshe. It also means upstairs, and the context tells them apart.
- припадатиpripadatito belongIt takes the dative: ova kuca pripada mom bratu. Belonging of a thing is expressed more simply: ovo je njegovo.
- туђиtuđisomeone elsesThe pair of svoj. The short form tudj is also in use: tudj novac. With tuga, sorrow, it only rhymes.
- заједничкиzajedničkisharedFrom zajedno, together. Opsti also translates as common, but in the sense of general: opta bolnica, opte pravilo.
- гуратиguratito pushOn the doors in Serbia it says gurati and vuci, push and pull. To give one push is gurnuti.
- вућиvućito pullIrregular: vucem, vuces, vuce, vuku. The past is vukao sam. On the door it says vuci.
- ударитиudaritito hitSame word. The blow is udarac, with a fleeting a: udarca. Udariti glavom is to bang your head.
- метарmetara meterFleeting a: metar, but dva metra, pet metara.
- центиметарcentimetara centimeterFive syllables: cen-ti-me-tar; the fleeting a leaves in centimetra.
- километарkilometara kilometerFleeting a: kilometar, kilometra, kilometara.
- литарlitara literFleeting a: litar, litra, litara.
- грамgrama gramA kilogram is kilogram, at the shop simply kilo. The genitive plural: sto grama sira.
- тежинаtežinaweightFrom tezak, heavy. The same word names difficulty: tezina zadatka, the hardness of the task.
- дужинаdužinalengthFrom dug, long. Careful: dug also means a debt, a different word in the same shell.
- ширинаširinawidthAll four measures are built alike: dug gives duzina, sirok sirina, visok visina, dubok dubina.
- висинаvisinaheightFrom visok, tall. About a person it is the height: visina od metar i osamdeset.
- дубинаdubinadepthFrom dubok, deep. About water and about sense alike: dubina reke, dubina problema.
- отприликеotprilikeroughlyNext to it: oko before a number and the suffix ak at the end: dvadesetak ljudi, twenty people or so.
- скороskoroalmostAn everyday trap: skoro means almost, while the English soon is uskoro.
- тачноtačnoexactlyExactly about time and number: tacno u pet, tacno sto dinara. The same word means correct.
- у просекуu prosekuon averageFrom prosek, the average. The same word is the grade average at school and a clearing in the forest.
- два путаdva putatwice as muchMultiples are counted with the word put: dva puta veci, tri puta jeftinije. Put here is an occasion, not a road.
- цифраcifraa digitThe sign from zero to nine. The whole number is broj, and brojka is said about a figure.
- четвртинаčetvrtinaa quarterFour syllables: che-tvr-ti-na, with a syllabic r between the v and the t.
- извагатиizvagatito weighFrom vaga, the scales. At the market they say izvagajte mi kilo; izmeriti also works but sounds bookier.
- сувишанsuvišanredundantFleeting a: suvisan, but suvisna, suvisno.
- празанprazanemptyFleeting a: prazan, but prazna, prazno, prazni.
- избегаватиizbegavatito avoidLiterally to flee around. It governs the accusative with no preposition, and the perfective is izbeci.
- чињеницаčinjenicaa factFrom cinira, to do: what is done is a fact. Cinjenica je da means the fact is that.
- питањеpitanjea questionBoth a question to an interlocutor and a matter: to je pitanje novca. Dovesti u pitanje is to call into question.
- важанvažanimportantFleeting a: vazan, but vazna, vazno, vazni.
- позитиванpozitivanpositiveFleeting a: pozitivan, but pozitivna.
- негативанnegativannegativeFleeting a: negativan, but negativna.
- у поређењу саu poređenju sacompared toFrom porediti, to compare. It takes the instrumental: u poredjenju SA proslogodisnjom.
- исти такавisti takavthe very sameIsti is the identical one, takav such a one. Together they mean exactly the same; the feminine is ista takva.
- предностprednostan advantageFrom pred, ahead. Dati prednost on the road means to yield, and it is a sign at the intersection.
- манаmanaa flawA flaw and a vice at once: svaka stvar ima manu. A defect of a thing is kvar or ostecenje.
- последицеposlediceconsequencesFrom posle. The singular is posledica, and snositi posledice means to bear the consequences.
- узети у обзирuzeti u obzirto factor inFrom obzir, regard, a look around. Hence also bez obzira na, regardless of.
- највероватнијеnajverovatnijemost likelyThe superlative of verovatno with the prefix naj. Bookier: po svoj prilici.
- сигурноsigurnono doubtOne word for both exactly and no doubt: Serbian does not split certainty about a fact from a guess.
- вероватноћаverovatnoćaprobabilityFive syllables: ve-ro-vat-no-cha.
- претпоставкаpretpostavkaan assumptionLiterally a pre-placing. The verb is pretpostaviti: pretpostavljam da, I suppose that.
- изгледа даizgleda dait looks likeFrom izgledati, to look. It stands at the start of the phrase and does not change by person.
- мора даmora dait must beA trap: mora da je tako is not an obligation but a guess, it must be so.
- не може битиne može bitiit cannot beThe negation of a guess: ne moze biti da. Colloquially people say simply nemoguce.
- баремbaremat leastPeople also say bar, shorter. Just do not mix with bar, the venue: there the word is not shortened.
- у сваком случајуu svakom slučajuin any caseFrom slucaj, a case and a matter in court. It means whatever happens.
- за сваки случајza svaki slučajjust in caseIt differs from u svakom slucaju by one preposition, and the sense is different: here it is a precaution.
- кад биkad biif (hypothetical)An unreal condition, and it must be followed by bih or bi. Kad without bi is simply when.
- под условомpod uslovomon conditionFrom uslov, a condition. The full form is pod uslovom da, and after it comes a verb.
- чак и акоčak i akoeven ifCak means even. A concession: even under such a condition all the same. Shorter, people say just i ako.
- у том случајуu tom slučajuin that caseThe pair of u svakom slucaju: there any case, here the named one, that very one.
- у супротномu suprotnomotherwiseThe main trap of the unit: the English otherwise is u suprotnom, while the Serbian inace means actually, by the way.
- ондаondathenBoth then and afterwards: prvo ovo, onda ono. In a condition it stands after ako.
- да биda biin order toA purpose, and the form changes by person: da bih stigao, da bi stigao, da bismo stigli.
- као даkao daas ifA comparison with the unreal: kao da se nista nije desilo. And kao without da is simply like.
- уместо даumesto darather thanBefore a noun it is umesto toga, before a verb umesto da radis.
- претежноpretežnomostlyFrom pretezati, to outweigh: what there is more of. Colloquially uglavnom, and that word already stood.
- по правилуpo praviluas a rulePo pravilu means as a rule, usually; po pravilima is by the rules, literally. One letter changes the sense.
- скоро свиskoro svialmost everyoneSkoro here is almost, not soon. Absolutely everyone is bash svi.
- изузетакizuzetakan exceptionFleeting a: izuzetak, but izuzetka, izuzeci.
- и тако даљеi tako daljeand so onShortened to itd. Colloquially people say i tako to.
- за разлику одza razliku odunlikeFrom razlika, a difference. It governs the genitive and serves as the pair of u poredjenju sa.
- осимosimexceptIt governs the genitive: osim tebe, osim nedelje. Osim toga means besides, and sem is the same word shorter.
- не башne bašnot quiteBash means just, exactly; with ne it becomes a soft not quite, a polite way to disagree.
- мање-вишеmanje-višemore or lessWritten with a hyphen. Otprilike is said about a number, manje-vise about an estimate.
- једваjedvabarelyBoth barely and with difficulty. But jedva cekam means I cannot wait, and there is no hardship there.
- вреди пробатиvredi probatiit is worth a tryFrom vredeti, to be worth: vredi means it is worth. Do not mix with vredan, hardworking.
- требало јеtrebalo jeshould haveAn impersonal past of trebati: a reproach after the fact. What follows is da and a verb.
- најбоље јеnajbolje jethe best thingThe neuter superlative as an impersonal turn, then da and a verb.
- најгоре јеnajgore jethe worst thingThe pair of najbolje je. Gori is worse, najgori the worst; and gore also means upstairs.
- што преšto prein the shortest timeLiterally what-earlier. The same device gives sto vise, sto jeftinije.
- узалудuzaludin vainUzaludan trud is a wasted effort. Colloquially dzaba, and the same word means for free.
- снаћи сеsnaći seto copeLiterally to find oneself: to get oriented and out of a spot. Snalazljiv is resourceful.
- покушајpokušajan attemptFrom pokusati, to try. The same word serves as the imperative: pokusaj, try.
- то јестto jestthat isShortened to tj. Jest is the old full form of je.
- испоставило сеispostavilo seit turned outFrom ispostaviti, to put out. Always with se and in the neuter.
- као резултатkao rezultatas a resultPeople also say usled toga. Rezultat is both an outcome and the score of a match.
- доводи доdovodi doleads toFrom dovesti, to bring. It governs the genitive. About a person: doveo me je do kuce.
- захваљујућиzahvaljujućithanks toA participle turned preposition. It takes the dative, and it is said about good things; about bad ones, zbog.
- из првеiz prveon the first tryLiterally from the first: the first attempt is implied. On the second, iz druge.
- двестаdvestatwo hundredOne solid word and completely unchangeable: dvesta dinara, sa dvesta ljudi — no endings ever. The separated dve stotine exists only on official forms, never in speech.
- тристаtristathree hundredOne word, no space, no endings. The friendliest of the hundreds — "three" and "hundred" simply fused together.
- четиристоčetiristofour hundredThe living form is short: cetiristo. The long cetiri stotine turns up in documents or when someone counts money out loud.
- петстоpetstofive hundredFrom here a second way of counting opens: pet stotina — "five hundreds" — is equally correct. Up the row it even gets handier: sest stotina, sedam stotina.
- шестстоšeststosix hundredThe double s collapses in speech — it is heard as one short "s": SEH-stoh, not ses-stoh.
- седамстоsedamstoseven hundredPlain sedam plus sto with nothing lost. Osamsto and devetsto are built exactly the same way — the honest end of the hundreds.
- осамстоosamstoeight hundredAn ear trap: osamsto is "eight hundred", osamdeset is "eighty". Only the middle of the word separates them — listen for -sto versus -deset.
- деветстоdevetstonine hundredThe last hundred before hiljada, "thousand". At the market it may be the hundred you hear most: devetsto dinara is a completely normal price.
- четвртиčetvrtifourthOrdinals act like adjectives and decline with the noun: cetvrti sprat, na cetvrtom spratu — "on the fourth floor". The case ending lives on the adjective.
- петиpetififthOne letter apart from pet ("five") — and a whole part of speech apart. Dates use the ordinal: peti mart — "the fifth of March".
- шестиšestisixthThree words one sound apart: sest "six", sesti "sixth", sesti "to sit down". Train your ear on the ending.
- седмиsedmiseventhSedam loses its a: sedam → sedmi. The same root gives sedmica, "week" — literally "a seven of days".
- осмиosmieighthThe same a-loss: osam → osmi. The eighth of March is widely celebrated in Serbia, so you will hear osmi mart every spring.
- деветиdevetininthDiffers from devet ("nine") only in its ending, and the stress does not move. An easy one — take the free win.
- десетиdesetitenthFrom deset. Deseti put — "for the tenth time" — is the beloved exaggeration of every argument.
- стотиstotihundredthFrom sto. Po stoti put, "for the hundredth time", is how a Serbian parent says "I have told you a hundred times".
- илиiliorSaid twice it becomes "either... or": ili caj ili kafa — "either tea or coffee". No helper word needed.
- такођеtakođealsoThe letter đ is a soft "dj", roughly the "j" of British "juice". After a negative Serbian switches to ni ja — "me neither".
- самоsamoonlyThe same letters as sam ("I am"), only unstressed — word order tells them apart. It sits right before the thing it limits.
- већvećalreadyThe same word is also the conjunction "but": nije caj, vec kafa — "not tea but coffee". Two distant jobs; context decides.
- јошjošstillCovers "still" and "more, another" at once: jos jedna kafa — "one more coffee". English splits the idea; Serbian does not.
- превишеprevišetooLiterally "over the measure". Before a noun it demands the genitive: previse soli — "too much salt".
- заједноzajednotogetherYou can see jedan ("one") inside: za-jedno, "as one". Stress stays on the first syllable: ZA-jed-no.
- не сме сеne sme senot allowedFrom smeti, "to be allowed" — literally "one may not". On signs it gets shorter: zabranjeno, "forbidden".
- требаtrebait is necessaryImpersonal and frozen — it never changes for person. To say who needs it, add the small words: treba mi, "I need"; treba ti, "you need".
- животživotlifeBeware the look-alike trap: this is "life". The word for "belly" is stomak or trbuh — do not mix them up.
- хтетиhtetito wantThe future tense is built from this same verb: ja cu, ti ces + infinitive. One verb serves both today's wish and tomorrow's plan.
- моћиmoćicanThe present is irregular and must be memorized: mogu, mozes, moze. Moze alone doubles as "sure, go ahead" all over Serbia.
- речrečwordAn ordinary "word": reci u recenici — "words in a sentence". A speech or a talk is a different word, govor.
- стварstvarmatterFeminine despite the consonant ending. U cemu je stvar? — "what is the matter?" — a question you will hear often.
- начинnačinwayConnected with poceti, "to begin" — a way is where you start from. Na ovaj nacin — "in this way".
- лакоlakoeasilyBoth "easily" in effort and "lightly" in weight — the same spread as English "easily". Laku noć, "good night", is literally "easy night".
- тешкоteškowith difficultyBoth "heavily" and "with effort". Teško meni is a fixed wail — "woe is me".
- како биkako biso thatThe course gave da as the purpose word; kako bi attaches the same purpose to a past-tense form: kako bi stigao — "so that he would make it".
- акоakoifReal conditions keep the present tense even about the future — no English-style "will" inside the if-part of the sentence.
- све докsve dokas long asDok covers "while"; sve dok stretches it over a whole lasting period. "Until" is the fixed pair dok... ne.
- кад већkad većsinceVec on its own is "already"; together with kad it concedes: kad vec ides... — "well, since you are going anyway...".
- само даsamo daif only it wouldSamo ("only") plus da opens a wish, and the verb stays in the present: samo da ne pada kisa — "if only it does not rain".
- тако даtako dasoIntroduces a result. Do not confuse with tako sto, "by way of" — that one answers "how", not "with what consequence".
- измеђуizmeđubetweenIzmedju takes the genitive, not the form English intuition suggests: izmedju banke i pekare — "between the bank and the bakery".
- близуblizunearThe course met blizu as the adverb "close"; as a preposition it demands the genitive: blizu skole — "near the school". For "around ten o'clock" Serbian switches to oko.
- уместоumestoin place ofRuns on the genitive: umesto mene — "instead of me"; umesto kafe — "instead of coffee". Ijekavian speech says umjesto.
- противprotivagainstGenitive again: protiv vetra — "against the wind". Nemam nista protiv — "I have nothing against it" — the everyday way to consent.
- безbezwithoutGenitive: bez secera, bez mene. It also drags the stress onto itself — BEZ tebe — a small melody worth imitating.
- заzaforWith one case za means "for": ovo je za tebe. The same za with the other case flips to "behind": za stolom — "at the table".
- оoaboutThe case is not what you would import from elsewhere: o takes the locative — o filmu, o tome — "about the film, about that".
- послеposleafter (preposition)Takes the genitive: posle rucka — "after lunch". Ijekavian poslije; and poslepodne, written solid, means "afternoon".
- токомtokomduringIn shape an old form of tok ("flow"), but it governs the genitive: tokom leta — "during the summer". Interchangeable with za vreme.
- збогzbogbecause ofGenitive: zbog kise — "because of the rain". For purpose rather than cause Serbian uses radi: radi tebe — "for your sake", not "because of you".
- окоokoaroundSpelled like oko, the "eye" word from earlier, but here it is a preposition with the genitive: oko kuce — "around the house". The same word also means "approximately".
- прекоprekoacrossGenitive: preko mosta — "across the bridge"; preko puta — "across the road". Kroz, from earlier, is "through" — in one side and out the other.
- изнутраiznutrafrom the insideA pure adverb, no case attached; it answers "from where". The set: spolja "from outside", unutra "inside", iznutra "from within".
- у близиниu blizininearbyBlizina ("closeness") frozen in one fixed form — the phrase behaves as an adverb and needs no case after it. The plain preposition blizu does: blizu skole.
- одговорodgovoranswerThe partner of pitanje ("question") — but mind the preposition: odgovor na pitanje, "an answer to the question", with na plus its case.
- проблемproblemproblemMasculine with no -a on the end: jedan problem, dva problema. Nema problema — "no problem" — is the everyday shrug.
- врлоvrloveryStands with adjectives and adverbs: vrlo dobro. Mnogo boosts verbs — mnogo volim; veoma is vrlo in a suit and tie.
- помоћpomoćhelpA noun from pomagati, the verb you already know. The last letter is soft ć, not c-with-a-circle (č) — the two letters make different words, and the difference is audible.
- битиbitito beIn the present it is almost always unstressed and lands second in the sentence: Ja sam tu — "I am here", Mi smo kod kuće — "we are at home". The full jesam is for short answers: Jesi li tu? — Jesam.
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Да, разумем вас доброDa, razumem vas dobroYes, I understand you well
- Не, хвала, не треба миNe, hvala, ne treba miNo, thanks, I do not need it
- Добро сам, хвала на питањуDobro sam, hvala na pitanjuI am fine, thanks for asking
- Данас се осећам лошеDanas se osećam lošeI feel bad today
- Одлично, видимо се у петOdlično, vidimo se u petGreat, see you at five
- Хлеб и млеко, молимHleb i mleko, molimBread and milk, please
What is worth knowing about these words
да (da) — yes. Also the linker before verbs: hocu da idem — "I want to go". Serbian almost never uses the infinitive after a main verb; da plus the present does the job.
не (ne) — no. One word for the answer "no" and for negating any verb: ne razumem — "I do not understand". No helper verb, just put ne in front.
добро (dobro) — fine. The standard answer to kako si: dobro sam — "I am fine". Well-being, approval, acceptable plans — one word covers them all.
лоше (loše) — badly. š sounds like "sh" in "ship". The plain opposite of dobro — use it for how you feel or how things went.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is да (da) — yes.
- What is this word?
It is половина (polovina) — half.
- What is this word?
It is мање (manje) — less.
- What is this word?
It is све је добро (sve je dobro) — everything is all right.
- What is this word?
It is шеснаест (šesnaest) — sixteen.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “yes” in Serbian?
Also the linker before verbs: hocu da idem — "I want to go". Serbian almost never uses the infinitive after a main verb; da plus the present does the job.
- How do you say “half” in Serbian?
The short form pola is more frequent: pola kile, pola sata.
- How do you say “less” in Serbian?
The comparative of malo — fewer, less, not so much.
- How do you say “everything is all right” in Serbian?
Sve is "everything"; svi is "everyone" — two letters, two different things.
- How do you say “sixteen” in Serbian?
From sest with the t dropped: sesnaest. English "sixteen" keeps its t; Serbian does not — one of the small mismatches to memorize.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “yes” in Serbian?
«да», read “da”. Also the linker before verbs: hocu da idem — "I want to go". Serbian almost never uses the infinitive after a main verb; da plus the present does the job. It is one of 306 words in the set “basic words” — the rest are in the table above.
How many basic words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 306 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 306 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.