нашалити се
“нашалити се” (našaliti se) — to play a joke in Serbian. Verb, level B1, topic — people and family. From sala, a joke. It takes na racun with the genitive: nasalio se na moj racun, he played a joke on me. In a live sentence: “Нашалили су се на његов рачун” — They played a joke on him. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters н, а, ш, а, л, и, т, и, с, е.
In short
| Written in Serbian | нашалити се |
| Read in Latin letters | našaliti se |
| Translation | to play a joke |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
- нашалити сеnašaliti seto play a joke
Why it looks that way
From sala, a joke. It takes na racun with the genitive: nasalio se na moj racun, he played a joke on me.
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.
- Нашалили су се на његов рачунNašalili su se na njegov računThey played a joke on him
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- пријатељprijateljfriendA strong word in Serbian — this is a true friend, not an acquaintance. Acquaintances get other words.
- породицаporodicafamilyBuilt on the root of "kin": the people you are born and married into.
- мајкаmajkamotherOne letter off the English "motor" of a boat — do not let the look mislead you; this is mom. A T-shirt is majica, one letter longer.
- отацotacfatherThe fleeting a drops in the cases: otac — oca — ocu. Within the family people say tata.
- детеdetechildThe plural is a surprise: deca — and it is feminine singular in form. One child, but the plural word runs the show.
- продавацprodavacvendorThe fleeting a survives only in this form: prodavac, but prodavca, prodavcu.
- купацkupaccustomerFrom kupiti, "to buy". The grand old word for a merchant shares the root, but here it is simply the buyer.
- комшијаkomšijaneighborMasculine despite the -a ending, and it declines like a feminine noun. The neighbor woman is komšinica.
- газда станаgazda stanalandlordGazda — the owner, the boss; stan — the apartment. You address him as gospodine, "sir".
- лекарlekardoctorFrom lek. People say doktor too, but the papers always read lekar.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to play a joke” in Serbian?
From sala, a joke. It takes na racun with the genitive: nasalio se na moj racun, he played a joke on me.
- How do you say “customer” in Serbian?
From kupiti, "to buy". The grand old word for a merchant shares the root, but here it is simply the buyer.
- How do you say “mother” in Serbian?
One letter off the English "motor" of a boat — do not let the look mislead you; this is mom. A T-shirt is majica, one letter longer.
- How do you say “doctor” in Serbian?
From lek. People say doktor too, but the papers always read lekar.
- How do you say “vendor” in Serbian?
From prodavati, "to sell". The woman behind the stall is prodavačica.
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 play a joke” in Serbian?
«нашалити се», read “našaliti se”. In a live sentence: “Нашалили су се на његов рачун” — They played a joke on him. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level B1, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters н, а, ш, а, л, и, т, и, с, е.
How is “нашалити се” written in Latin letters?
našaliti se. 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 sala, a joke. It takes na racun with the genitive: nasalio se na moj racun, he played a joke on me. 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.