чим
“чим” (čim) — as soon as in Serbian. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. 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. In a live sentence: “Чим стигнем, зваћу те” — As soon as I arrive I will call you. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Serbian | чим |
| Read in Latin letters | čim |
| Translation | as soon as |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- чимčimas soon as
Why it looks that way
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.
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.
- Чим стигнем, зваћу теČim stignem, zvaću teAs soon as I arrive I will call you
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- 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.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- 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 “night” in Serbian?
Feminine on a consonant: u noći, preko noći — "overnight". Noćas means "tonight, in the night just passed".
- How do you say “today” in Serbian?
Dan ("day") plus the old ending -as: "in this day". The same building block hides in other time words you will meet.
- How do you say “it is already late” in Serbian?
Vec is "already". Do not cross it with vece (the evening) — one letter, one vowel length, two words.
- How do you say “evening” in Serbian?
Neuter, declining like vreme: uveče, do večeri. Do not confuse with vec — "already" — a stress mark apart.
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 “as soon as” in Serbian?
«чим», read “čim”. In a live sentence: “Чим стигнем, зваћу те” — As soon as I arrive I will call you. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ч, и, м.
How is “чим” written in Latin letters?
čim. 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?
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. 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.