било је овако
“било је овако” (bilo je ovako) — this is how it happened in Serbian. Phrase, level B1. Literally it-was thus. Note the order: the link je stands second, and it cannot be moved to the start. In a live sentence: “Било је овако: изашли смо у осам” — This is how it happened: we left at eight. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters б, и, л, о, ј, е, о, в, а, к, о.
In short
| Written in Serbian | било је овако |
| Read in Latin letters | bilo je ovako |
| Translation | this is how it happened |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- било је овакоbilo je ovakothis is how it happened
Why it looks that way
Literally it-was thus. Note the order: the link je stands second, and it cannot be moved to the start.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Било је овако: изашли смо у осамBilo je ovako: izašli smo u osamThis is how it happened: we left at eight
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “this is how it happened” in Serbian?
«било је овако», read “bilo je ovako”. In a live sentence: “Било је овако: изашли смо у осам” — This is how it happened: we left at eight. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters б, и, л, о, ј, е, о, в, а, к, о.
How is “било је овако” written in Latin letters?
bilo je ovako. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally it-was thus. Note the order: the link je stands second, and it cannot be moved to the start. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.