лаку ноћ
“лаку ноћ” (laku noć) — good night in Serbian. Phrase, level A1, topic — greetings and goodbyes. Literally "an easy night" — a parting wish, never a greeting. In a live sentence: “Лаку ноћ, видимо се ујутру” — Good night, see you in the morning. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters л, а, к, у, н, о, ћ. One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | лаку ноћ |
| Read in Latin letters | laku noć |
| Translation | good night |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
- лаку ноћlaku noćgood night
Why it looks that way
Literally "an easy night" — a parting wish, never a greeting.
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.
- Лаку ноћ, видимо се ујутруLaku noć, vidimo se ujutruGood night, see you in the morning
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- здравоzdravohelloWorks for meeting people and parting alike, like Italian ciao. With strangers lead with dobar dan instead.
- добар данdobar dangood afternoonThe neutral, polite greeting. With someone you do not know, open with this rather than zdravo.
- добро јутроdobro jutrogood morningThe letter j is the English "y" sound, so jutro sounds like "you-tro". Morning hours only; after that switch to dobar dan.
- добро вечеdobro večegood eveningc-with-a-circle (č) is a firm "ch" as in "church", while c-with-an-acute (ć) is softer, closer to "ty". The two letters look alike and sound distinct.
- довиђењаdoviđenjagoodbyeLiterally "until seeing". The letter d-with-stroke (đ) is a soft "dj" — like the "d" of "during" said with a buzz, close to the "j" of British "juice".
- ћаоćaobyeBorrowed from Italian ciao and just as informal. The letter c is a softer "ch" than in "church" — tongue closer to the teeth.
- како си?kako si?how are you?Si is literally "you are": the verb "to be" is a small ending here, not a separate word. For friends and peers.
- како сте?kako ste?how are you (formal)?The polite plural form, your "how do you do". Ste is the you-form of "to be".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “good night” in Serbian?
Literally "an easy night" — a parting wish, never a greeting.
- How do you say “how are you?” in Serbian?
Si is literally "you are": the verb "to be" is a small ending here, not a separate word. For friends and peers.
- How do you say “goodbye” in Serbian?
Literally "until seeing". The letter d-with-stroke (đ) is a soft "dj" — like the "d" of "during" said with a buzz, close to the "j" of British "juice".
- How do you say “good morning” in Serbian?
The letter j is the English "y" sound, so jutro sounds like "you-tro". Morning hours only; after that switch to dobar dan.
- How do you say “hello” in Serbian?
Works for meeting people and parting alike, like Italian ciao. With strangers lead with dobar dan instead.
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 “good night” in Serbian?
«лаку ноћ», read “laku noć”. In a live sentence: “Лаку ноћ, видимо се ујутру” — Good night, see you in the morning. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A1, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”; written with the characters л, а, к, у, н, о, ћ.
How is “лаку ноћ” written in Latin letters?
laku noć. 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 "an easy night" — a parting wish, never a greeting. 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.