Numbers and counting in Serbian
44 words Serbian words on the topic “numbers and counting”: један — one, два — two, три — three, четири — four. 44 words can be played from recordings.
44 words on the topic
- једанjedanoneChanges with gender: jedan kafic, jedna kafa, jedno pivo. The word before your order always agrees with it.
- дваdvatwoGender matters up to four: dva stola but dve kafe. From three upward the noun takes a special counting form.
- триtrithreeAfter dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years.
- четириčetirifourThe last number with its own noun form: cetiri dana. From pet onward the noun goes genitive plural: pet dana — literally "five of days".
- петpetfiveSounds like the animal word "pet" — resist the association; the p is crisp and the e short. From here nouns count in the genitive plural.
- шестšestsixA sound cluster with three faces: sest is "six", sesti is "sixth", and sesti with a long e is "to sit down". One vowel move, three words.
- седамsedamsevenEasier to anchor to sedmi, "seventh", than to English "seven" — the se-DA-m rhythm is what you will actually hear.
- осамosameightDo not meet it as osim — "except". One letter turns the number into a preposition: osim mleka — "except milk".
- деветdevetnineThe ordinal is deveti. Devetsto is "nine hundred", but "ninety" is devedeset — the t quietly drops.
- десетdesettenA family root: desetak means "about ten", decenija is "a decade". Ten minutes on foot: deset minuta peske.
- килограмkilogramkilogramIn speech usually just kilo: dva kila paradajza — "two kilos of tomatoes".
- половинаpolovinahalfThe short form pola is more frequent: pola kile, pola sata.
- још једанjoš jedanone moreWith feminine nouns: još jedna; neuter: još jedno. The order phrase that never stops being useful.
- 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.
- бројbrojnumberAlso "number" as in broj telefona. From brojati, "to count" — the counting verb of this unit.
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.
- Имам само један кључImam samo jedan ključI only have one key
- Имам два братаImam dva brataI have two brothers
- Чекам већ три сатаČekam već tri sataI have been waiting for three hours
- У стану има четири собеU stanu ima četiri sobeThe apartment has four rooms
- Станица је пет минута одавдеStanica je pet minuta odavdeThe station is five minutes from here
- Радим шест дана недељноRadim šest dana nedeljnoI work six days a week
What is worth knowing about these words
један (jedan) — one. Changes with gender: jedan kafic, jedna kafa, jedno pivo. The word before your order always agrees with it.
два (dva) — two. Gender matters up to four: dva stola but dve kafe. From three upward the noun takes a special counting form.
три (tri) — three. After dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years.
четири (četiri) — four. The last number with its own noun form: cetiri dana. From pet onward the noun goes genitive plural: pet dana — literally "five of days".
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 један (jedan) — one.
- What is this word?
It is осам (osam) — eight.
- What is this word?
It is дванаест (dvanaest) — twelve.
- What is this word?
It is деветнаест (devetnaest) — nineteen.
- What is this word?
It is осамдесет (osamdeset) — eighty.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Serbian?
Changes with gender: jedan kafic, jedna kafa, jedno pivo. The word before your order always agrees with it.
- How do you say “eight” in Serbian?
Do not meet it as osim — "except". One letter turns the number into a preposition: osim mleka — "except milk".
- How do you say “twelve” in Serbian?
A regular "two-plus-ten". From this number up, count nouns stay genitive plural: dvanaest jaja — literally "twelve of eggs".
- How do you say “nineteen” in Serbian?
The last of the -naest family. The tens that follow are built differently, so this is the edge of the easy pattern.
- How do you say “eighty” in Serbian?
From osam, untouched as well. English slipped a v into "eighty"; Serbian kept the word as it grew — osam + deset.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
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 “one” in Serbian?
«један», read “jedan”. Changes with gender: jedan kafic, jedna kafa, jedno pivo. The word before your order always agrees with it. It is one of 44 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 44 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, 44 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.