десно
“десно” (desno) — to the right in Serbian. Adverb, level A1, topic — asking the way. From desnica, the right hand. English keeps the same ancient idea in "dexterous" and "dexterity" — the right side as the skillful side. In a live sentence: “На семафору скрените десно” — Turn right at the traffic light. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters д, е, с, н, о. One of 18 words in the set “asking the way” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | десно |
| Read in Latin letters | desno |
| Translation | to the right |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
- десноdesnoto the right
Why it looks that way
From desnica, the right hand. English keeps the same ancient idea in "dexterous" and "dexterity" — the right side as the skillful side.
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.
- На семафору скрените десноNa semaforu skrenite desnoTurn right at the traffic light
Nearby words: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- где је?gde je?where is...Literally "where is": the linking je is compulsory where English manages without it. For plurals the link changes: gde su? — "where are...?".
- овдеovdehereBosnia and Montenegro say ovdje. The pair to know: onde — "over there", a bit farther than tamo.
- тамоtamothereCovers both "there" as a place and "there" as a direction — one word where English needs two. Tamo-amo means "back and forth".
- левоlevoto the leftGives levak, "a left-hander". Next to it the great trap: pravo is not "right" — it is "straight ahead".
- правоpravostraight aheadThe course's headline trap: pravo means STRAIGHT. For the right-hand side you need desno — check before you turn.
- близуblizuclose byBoth an adverb and a preposition with the genitive: blizu stanice — "close to the station". The comparative is blize — "closer".
- далекоdalekofarStress on the first syllable — DA-leko. With a preposition: daleko od centra — "far from the center".
- како да дођем доkako da dođem dohow do I get to...Literally "how do I walk up to": Serbian builds it with da plus the present tense. Do demands the genitive after it.
- доћи доdoći doto get toStici do, taught earlier, is about vehicles arriving; doci do covers arriving on foot and "getting to" in general — also with the genitive.
- на другој страниna drugoj stranion the other sideLocative after na: strana gives strani. For movement it would be the other case — na drugu stranu, "to the other side".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to the right” in Serbian?
From desnica, the right hand. English keeps the same ancient idea in "dexterous" and "dexterity" — the right side as the skillful side.
- How do you say “far” in Serbian?
Stress on the first syllable — DA-leko. With a preposition: daleko od centra — "far from the center".
- How do you say “there” in Serbian?
Covers both "there" as a place and "there" as a direction — one word where English needs two. Tamo-amo means "back and forth".
- How do you say “on the other side” in Serbian?
Locative after na: strana gives strani. For movement it would be the other case — na drugu stranu, "to the other side".
- How do you say “close by” in Serbian?
Both an adverb and a preposition with the genitive: blizu stanice — "close to the station". The comparative is blize — "closer".
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 “to the right” in Serbian?
«десно», read “desno”. In a live sentence: “На семафору скрените десно” — Turn right at the traffic light. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters д, е, с, н, о.
How is “десно” written in Latin letters?
desno. 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?
From desnica, the right hand. English keeps the same ancient idea in "dexterous" and "dexterity" — the right side as the skillful side. 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.