Time, days and hours in Serbian
137 words Serbian words on the topic “time, days and hours”: сат — hour, дан — day, данас — today, сутра — tomorrow. 137 words can be played from recordings.
137 words on the topic
- сатsathourAlso the watch on your wrist: dva sata — "two hours" and "two o'clock" alike; rucni sat is a wristwatch. One word, three time jobs.
- данdandayThe plural splits: dani in free use, but after numbers dana — pet dana, "five days". Danas is literally "of this day".
- данасdanastodayDan ("day") plus the old ending -as: "in this day". The same building block hides in other time words you will meet.
- сутраsutratomorrowRelated to jutro, "morning", by origin, but it means only "tomorrow" — jutro stays morning.
- јучеjučeyesterdayThere is also jucer — the same word, a touch more bookish. The day before yesterday is prekjuče.
- вечеvečeeveningNeuter, declining like vreme: uveče, do večeri. Do not confuse with vec — "already" — a stress mark apart.
- ноћnoćnightFeminine on a consonant: u noći, preko noći — "overnight". Noćas means "tonight, in the night just passed".
- времеvremeweatherOne word for weather and for time: kakvo je vreme? asks about the sky; nemam vremena about the clock.
- у колико сати?u koliko sati?at what time?Literally "at how many hours". Sati is the plural of sat.
- већ је касноveć je kasnoit is already lateVec is "already". Do not cross it with vece (the evening) — one letter, one vowel length, two words.
- доручакdoručakbreakfastAlready met whole in doručak je uključen — "breakfast included". To breakfast is doručkovati.
- ручакručaklunchThe main meal of the day, usually after two. To lunch is ručati. The same root hides inside doručak.
- вечераvečerasupperFrom veče, "evening"; the verb is večerati. The course met it in spremiti večeru — "to make supper".
- првоprvoto start withIt stands before the verb: prvo cemo jesti, pa onda idemo. It also opens a narration instead of first of all; the continuation tells them apart: pa onda tells a story, kao drugo runs a list.
- затимzatimafterwardsBookish and neutral, it stands at the start of the part: prvo, zatim. In live speech the same spot is taken by pa onda or simply posle.
- после тогаposle togaafter thatPosle takes the genitive: posle toga, posle rucka, posle posla. A trap: posle is both a preposition and an adverb, and kasnije means later.
- најзадnajzadfinallyThe payoff of a long wait; it stands at the start, and the clitics follow right behind: Najzad smo stigli, not Najzad stigli smo. The synonym is konacno.
- докdokwhileOne conjunction for both while and as long as: Dok on spava, ja radim. The comma is needed if the clause comes first. A trap: dok ne means until, and the negation is not doubled in translation.
- истовременоistovremenoat the same timeAn adverb, not a conjunction: you cannot tie two sentences with it, for that you need dok. It stands before the verb: istovremeno je zvonio telefon.
- пре него штоpre nego štobeforeThree words with a rigid inner order. After it the future is said in the present tense, as after ako and kad: pre nego sto krenemo. In speech shortened to pre nego krenemo.
- након штоnakon štoonce (after)The pair of pre nego sto, but shorter: nakon sto stignemo. Without sto the preposition nakon works with the genitive: nakon rucka. In speech people often say kad or posto.
- чимčimas soon asOne word where English needs two, and after it the future is the present tense: Cim stignem, zvacu te. A trap: cime, with an e at the end, is the instrumental of sta, the question with what.
- од тадаod tadasince thenIt points at a spot in the past and stands at the start: Od tada se nismo videli. And since, with a clause, is otkad or ot kako: otkad je otisao.
- увекuvekalwaysIt stands before the verb or after it, but never between the auxiliary and the participle: Uvek sam kasnio, not Sam uvek kasnio; the clitic sam holds the second place.
- честоčestooftenThe comparative is irregular: cesce, more often; najcesce, most often. Najcesce also works as as a rule.
- реткоretkorarelyThe comparison is redje, najredje. A relative trap: redak means both rare and thin, retka supa is a thin soup.
- понекадponekadsometimesWritten as one word. Nearby live katkad and the long s vremena na vreme, the same sense, only longer.
- никадnikadneverDouble negation is compulsory: nikad ne idem; without ne the phrase is broken. The same for nigde ne, nista ne, niko ne. The full form is nikada.
- обичноobičnousuallyFrom obican, ordinary: obicno radim do pet. A trap: usually in the sense of plainly is jednostavno, not obicno.
- дугоdugofor a long whileA three-word trap: dugo is for a long time, dug a debt, dugacak long. Dugo cekam, but dugacak put and vratiti dug.
- сваки путsvaki putevery timeTwo words, accusative: svaki put kad dodjem. Put means both an occasion and a road; occasions are counted with it: dva puta, mnogo puta.
- с времена на времеs vremena na vremefrom time to timeA frozen phrase, the word order does not change. Literally from time onto time: the first word in the genitive, the second in the accusative. Shorter, people say ponekad.
- до садаdo sadaso farThe reference point is now: do sada nismo culi nista. The pair of od tada. Also written together, dosad; both are right.
- одједномodjednomsuddenlyIt opens the story of the unexpected and pulls the clitics along: Odjednom je nestalo struje. Written as one word; od jednom, in two, is a mistake.
- унапредunapredin advanceUsage: platiti unapred, hvala unapred, thanks in advance. A trap: napred without u means forward, and unapredjenje is a promotion at work.
- на времеna vremeon timeTwo words and the accusative only: stigli smo na vreme. A case trap: na vremenu with the locative means in the course of it, not punctually.
- хитноhitnourgentlyFrom hitan, urgent: hitna pomoc, the ambulance from unit twenty-two; hitan slucaj, an emergency. Usage: hitno mi treba potvrda.
- одмахodmahright awayUsage: dolazim odmah, odmah posle rucka. A trap of a similar start: odmor is rest, with a different root.
- постепеноpostepenograduallyFrom stepen, a step: gradually means step by step. Postepeno se navikavam. The colloquial synonym is malo-pomalio.
- у последњи часu poslednji časat the last momentLiterally in the last hour, but cas here is a moment, not sixty minutes; sixty minutes is a sat. Longer and bookier: u poslednjem trenutku.
- пре или каснијеpre ili kasnijesooner or laterSerbian takes comparatives, not adverbs: literally earlier or later. The word order does not change: Pre ili kasnije ce se saznati.
- једномjednomonceThe same word means one time and someday: jednom cemo, jednom nedeljno. It is the instrumental of jedan frozen into an adverb.
- у детињствуu detinjstvuin childhoodThe locative after u, as in u skoli: where, not where to. U detinjstvo with the accusative would mean a movement back in time.
- у то времеu to vremeback thenEnglish puts the plural, Serbian the singular: u to vreme. The plural vremena exists but lives in the high style.
- то је било давноto je bilo davnoit was long agoDavno without already; if emphasis is needed, odavno is added, since time out of mind. The word order is free: davno je to bilo sounds warmer.
- први путprvi putthe first timePut here is an occasion, and the same word means a road. For the first time is po prvi put, and the last time poslednji put.
- будућностbudućnostthe futureFrom buduci, future, the same root as the English will-be. A feminine noun in ost, like mladost and proslost.
- прошлостprošlostthe pastFrom prosli, past: prosle nedelje you already know. The past tense in grammar is proslo vreme.
- планови за наредни периодplanovi za naredni periodplans for the near futureSaying najblizi planovi is impossible: Serbian describes the term, not the closeness. Naredni is next, the same sense as sledeci.
- за годину данаza godinu danain a yearZa with the accusative means in, exactly the opposite of the familiar pattern. And dana sounds superfluous only to the English ear: without it the phrase sounds cut off.
- сталноstalnoall the timeFrom stalan, permanent: stalni posao, stalna adresa. In speech it often simply means constantly, with a shade of reproach.
- привременоprivremenotemporarilyLiterally at-the-time: what is there for the term, not forever. Privremeni boravak is a temporary stay, the first thing a newcomer files.
- згодно времеzgodno vremea convenient timeZgodan is convenient, suitable, and about a person attractive: zgodna devojka is a compliment, nothing about convenience. A comfortable chair is udoban.
- заказати терминzakazati terminto book an appointmentA trap: zakazati means to schedule, to book an appointment, while ordering in a shop or cafe is naruciti. Termin is not a term but an appointed time.
- поподнеpopodnein the afternoonFour English words fit into one: popodne. Written together both as an adverb and as a noun: u tri popodne, lepo popodne.
- предвечеpredvečetoward eveningAlso one word instead of three, also together. Nearby stand pred zoru, before dawn, and preko dana, in the daytime.
- у било које времеu bilo koje vremeat any timeBilo koji is any, whichever; the second part declines: bilo koga, bilo cime. People also say kad god hoces.
- не пре петne pre petnot before fivePre means both earlier and before; no comparative is needed here. With the genitive: pre pet sati, pre podne.
- доћи ћу на времеdoći ću na vremeI will be on timeEnglish promises with to be; Serbian with to come: doci cu. Bicu na vreme is understood too but sounds less natural.
- док неdok neuntilDok is while; with ne it means up to the moment when: cekaj dok ne dodjem, wait until I come.
- векveka centuryA century as a hundred years and as an era: dvadeseti vek, vek tehnike. The hundred years in the course stands as a separate word, stolece: it is only about exactly a hundred years, while vek is wider. The same vek means the lifespan of a thing, vek trajanja, it will meet in the unit about quality.
- епохаepohaan eraA Greek word, as in English. In speech people rather say doba: doba kraljeva, srednje doba.
- деценијаdecenijaa decadeFrom Latin. Serbs say decenija much more often than ten years: posle dve decenije.
- периодperioda periodThe card planovi za naredni period already stood. On its own period is any stretch of time with a start and an end.
- тренtrenan instantThe short form of trenutak, a moment. U tren oka, in the blink of an eye; za tren, in a flash.
- дуготрајанdugotrajanlong-lastingFleeting a: dugotrajan, but dugotrajna, dugotrajno.
- ових данаovih danaany day nowThe genitive plural with no preposition: this is how Serbian marks time. It works about the past and the future alike: ovih dana sam ga video and ovih dana dolazi.
- у данашње времеu današnje vremenowadaysLiterally in todays time. There is also the short danas, today, but it is about one day, not an era.
- од памтивекаod pamtivekasince time immemorialBuilt from pamtiti and vek: since the century remembers. Written as one word and does not decline.
- за само неколико минутаza samo nekoliko minutain minutesThere is no separate word for a mere few: the particle samo boosts it. There is also the image za tren oka, in the blink of an eye.
- савременsavremenmodernFleeting a: savremen, but savremena, savremeno.
- древанdrevanancientFleeting a: drevan, but drevna, drevno.
- давнинаdavninathe distant pastThe card proslost, the past, already stood. Davnina is olden times, bygone days: iz davnine, u davnini.
- ретко кадretko kadonce in a whileThe familiar retko on its own means rarely. The added kad softens it: not almost never but now and then.
- свакодневноsvakodnevnodailyBuilt from svaki and dan. The adjective svakodnevni is everyday: svakodnevne obaveze.
- редовноredovnoregularlyFrom red, order. Redovan student is a full-time student, redovna plata a regular salary.
- по први путpo prvi putfor the first timeThe card prvi put, the first time, already stood. The preposition po adds solemnity, like the English for.
- изноваiznovaanewFrom nov. There is also ispochetka, from the very start; iznova stresses that the same thing is done once more.
- све чешћеsve češćemore and more oftenShch is two sounds in a row: che-shche.
- радним данимаradnim danimaon weekdaysThe instrumental plural with no preposition: the Serbian way to say on which days. nedeljom, subotom, radnim danima.
- сваки други путsvaki drugi putevery other timeLiterally every second time. Built the same as svaki drugi dan, every other day.
- једном годишњеjednom godišnjeonce a yearThe adverb godisnje instead of the English in a year. The same row: mesecno, nedeljno, dnevno.
- сваки часsvaki časevery other minuteLiterally every hour, but it is not about hours: it means every minute, all the time. There is also svaki cas nesto novo, constantly something new.
- у међувременуu međuvremenumeanwhileThe dj is a soft j: me-dju-vre-me-nu.
- упоредоuporedoin parallelFrom pored, beside. About two things at once: radimo uporedo na dva projekta. The geometric parallel is paralelan.
- до тадаdo tadauntil thenThe pair of od tada, since then. The row is full: do sada, until now; do kada, until when.
- накнадноnaknadnolater onFrom naknada, a reimbursement, a supplement. It means later, additionally: o tome cemo naknadno. In papers it meets at every step.
- уочиuočion the eve ofA plain ch: u-o-chi.
- убудућеubudućefrom now onThe soft ch: u-bu-du-che.
- овога путаovoga putathis time aroundThe genitive with no preposition. There is also the short ovaj put in the accusative: both are right, ovoga puta sounds a bit bookier.
- благовременоblagovremenoin due timeBuilt from blago and vreme. A chancellery word; in conversation people say na vreme.
- гледано уназадgledano unazadin hindsightLiterally looking backward. The turn is about what became clear later. Backdating a paper is quite different: sa ranijim datumom.
- без одлагањаbez odlaganjawithout delayFrom odlagati, to postpone, the same root as odugovlaciti. In an official letter exactly this turn stands.
- фебруарfebruarFebruaryComes right after januar, which the course has met. Croatian names it veljaca — Croatia kept the old Slavic month names, Serbia did not.
- мартmartMarchIdentical to the English word in sound and shape. Dates put the ordinal first and the month in the genitive: osmi mart, but osmog marta.
- априлaprilAprilThe Croatian name for the same month is travanj, from "grass". A Serb understands it, but the calendar says april.
- мајmajMayThe shortest month name in writing. The first of May is a public holiday, and Prvi maj is said almost as a proper name.
- јунjunJuneThe calendar's great mix-up: jun and jul differ by one letter. To avoid repeating the question, Serbs often say juni and juli — old forms kept alive by self-defense.
- августavgustAugustFollows jul and is spelled with a v, not a u: avgust. The Croatian name kolovoz is the clearest marker of the alternative month row.
- септембарseptembarSeptemberThe last four months all end in -bar. The a drops when you decline: septembar → u septembru.
- октобарoktobarOctoberThe Slavic calendar trap: Croatian listopad is October, Polish listopad is November. Serbian has neither — only oktobar, faithful to Latin.
- новембарnovembarNovemberThe a drops in the cases exactly as with its neighbors: novembar → u novembru, do novembra.
- децембарdecembarDecemberThe Croatian name is prosinac. The Serbian year ends in decembar, and New Year is greeted on the thirty-first of December.
- годинаgodinayearA reverse trap: godina is "year", not "anniversary". Its genitive plural looks exactly like the singular: pet godina.
- деноноћdenonoća full day and nightdan + noć glued together: a stretch of twenty-four hours. The noun itself is rare — speech prefers "twenty-four hours" — but the adverb denonoćno, "around the clock", is on every other shop window.
- столећеstolećecenturyExactly one hundred years. The word vek also exists and is broader: an epoch, a lifetime, the service life of a thing.
- минутminutminuteMasculine in Serbian: jedan minut, pet minuta. The feminine minuta exists, but the masculine is the norm.
- секундsekunda secondMasculine like minut: jedan sekund, pet sekundi. The beat of the clock, not the place in the race.
- пола сатаpola satahalf an hourLiterally "half of an hour". Pola never declines, and the word after it stands in the genitive: pola sata, pola godine, pola hleba.
- поднеpodnenoonFrom po + dne — "over the day". It also builds popodne, "afternoon", and prepodne, "before noon": the Serbian day split in two.
- поноћponoćmidnightFeminine like noc and declining like it: u ponoć, posle ponoći.
- садаsadanowThe short form sad is heard more often: sad ću — "coming now". Nothing to do with gardens — pure coincidence of shape.
- рокrokdeadlineA time limit, not music — that is rok muzika. From it: rok trajanja, the shelf life printed on the package.
- следећиsledećinextThis is the word shouted at queue windows: sledeci! — "next!" The letter c-with-acute (ć) is the soft ch.
- прошлиprošlipreviousWith time words it needs no preposition: prosle nedelje — "last week", genitive case. Very frequent with dates and periods.
- каснитиkasnitito be lateFrom kasno, "late". Being late for something takes na: kasnim na posao — "I am late for work".
- стићиstićito make it in timeCovers "succeed in arriving" and simply "arrive": voz je stigao — "the train has arrived". Present: stignem. Closest in feel to "make it in time".
- поновоponovoagainFrom nov, "new" — "anew". The equal opet is shorter and wins in speech.
- ускороuskorosoonThe trap: bare skoro means "almost" in Serbian. "Soon" adds the u-.
- одавноodavnofor agesod + davno, "from long ago". Its partner nedavno, "recently", is assembled the same way.
- недавноnedavnorecentlyWritten solid, even though a negative sits inside it. Serbian has no separated "not long ago" — the word is one block.
- касноkasnolateThe same root gives the verb kasniti, "to be late". Its partner rano, "early", behaves just like English.
- раноranoearlyOne of the rare words with no trick up its sleeve — it sounds and means what you expect.
- брзоbrzoquicklyThe root has not a single vowel — brz. Serbian calmly keeps a syllable on an r.
- управоupravojust nowAlso "exactly": upravo tako — "exactly so". Do not let it drift toward pravo, "straight ahead" — different words, one letter apart.
- ујутруujutruin the morningBelgrade says ujutru; the ijekavian regions say ujutro. Jutros is narrower — "this morning" specifically.
- дањуdanjuby dayA fossilized old form of dan ("day") doing the job of "by day". No preposition needed; its partner is nocu.
- увечеuvečein the eveningWritten as one word even though u ("in") plus vece ("evening") are visible inside. The evening meal, vecera, gets an extra -ra.
- ноћуnoćuat nightFrom noc, a feminine noun on a soft consonant — its instrumental is just -u, no -ju. The partner of danju.
- сваки данsvaki danevery dayPlain form with no preposition, like English. Svakog dana, the genitive version, means exactly the same and is just as common.
- цео данceo danall dayThe l/o alternation: ceo but cela, celo — "whole". One phrase, no preposition: radim ceo dan — "I work all day".
- тренутакtrenutakmomentThe fleeting a drops out as you bend the word: trenutka, trenuci. The adverb trenutno means "currently, right now".
- часовникčasovnikclockSat — already known as "hour" — also names a wristwatch. Casovnik is reserved for clocks that hang or stand.
- колико је сатиkoliko je satiwhat time is it?Literally "how much of the hours" — after koliko the noun goes genitive plural: sati. Asking about minutes works the same way.
- јутроjutromorningNeuter, plural jutra. You know dobro jutro and ujutru; the bare noun declines too: od jutra do mraka — "from morning till dark".
- било кадbilo kadwheneverLiterally "at any time": navrati bilo kad — "drop by anytime". In the question "have you ever..." Serbian says ikada.
- трајатиtrajatito lastOnly about time and the event itself: film traje dva sata — "the film lasts two hours". You do not say it about a person.
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.
- Чекам те већ један сатČekam te već jedan satI have been waiting for you for a whole hour
- Био је то дуг данBio je to dug danIt was a long day
- Данас не радим, слободан самDanas ne radim, slobodan samToday I am not working, I am free
- Сутра идем код лекараSutra idem kod lekaraTomorrow I am going to the doctor
- Јуче је падала киша цео данJuče je padala kiša ceo danYesterday it rained all day
- Вече је топло, идемо у шетњуVeče je toplo, idemo u šetnjuThe evening is warm, let us go for a walk
What is worth knowing about these words
сат (sat) — hour. Also the watch on your wrist: dva sata — "two hours" and "two o'clock" alike; rucni sat is a wristwatch. One word, three time jobs.
дан (dan) — day. The plural splits: dani in free use, but after numbers dana — pet dana, "five days". Danas is literally "of this day".
данас (danas) — today. Dan ("day") plus the old ending -as: "in this day". The same building block hides in other time words you will meet.
сутра (sutra) — tomorrow. Related to jutro, "morning", by origin, but it means only "tomorrow" — jutro stays morning.
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 сат (sat) — hour.
- What is this word?
It is време (vreme) — weather.
- What is this word?
It is затим (zatim) — afterwards.
- What is this word?
It is чим (čim) — as soon as.
- What is this word?
It is обично (obično) — usually.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hour” in Serbian?
Also the watch on your wrist: dva sata — "two hours" and "two o'clock" alike; rucni sat is a wristwatch. One word, three time jobs.
- How do you say “weather” in Serbian?
One word for weather and for time: kakvo je vreme? asks about the sky; nemam vremena about the clock.
- How do you say “afterwards” in Serbian?
Bookish and neutral, it stands at the start of the part: prvo, zatim. In live speech the same spot is taken by pa onda or simply posle.
- How do you say “as soon as” in Serbian?
One word where English needs two, and after it the future is the present tense: Cim stignem, zvacu te. A trap: cime, with an e at the end, is the instrumental of sta, the question with what.
- How do you say “usually” in Serbian?
From obican, ordinary: obicno radim do pet. A trap: usually in the sense of plainly is jednostavno, not obicno.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
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 “hour” in Serbian?
«сат», read “sat”. Also the watch on your wrist: dva sata — "two hours" and "two o'clock" alike; rucni sat is a wristwatch. One word, three time jobs. It is one of 137 words in the set “time, days and hours” — the rest are in the table above.
How many time words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 137 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, 137 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.