опасно
“опасно” (opasno) — unsafe in Serbian. Adjective, level A2, topic — phrases that save you. One of the rare words that behaves exactly as you would guess. The noun is opasnost — "danger". In a live sentence: “Опасно је купати се овде” — It is unsafe to swim here. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters о, п, а, с, н, о. One of 21 words in the set “phrases that save you” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | опасно |
| Read in Latin letters | opasno |
| Translation | unsafe |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | A2 |
- опасноopasnounsafe
Why it looks that way
One of the rare words that behaves exactly as you would guess. The noun is opasnost — "danger".
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.
- Опасно је купати се овдеOpasno je kupati se ovdeIt is unsafe to swim here
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- не разумемne razumemI do not understandFrom razumeti, "to understand". Negation is one solid block: ne is glued straight onto the verb, with no helper verb involved.
- полакоpolakoslowlyAlso "easy does it" — the national answer to hurry and panic alike. Said twice, polako polako, it is practically a philosophy.
- поновите, молимponovite, molimrepeat, pleaseThe polite imperative. More conversational: mozete li ponovo? — "can you say it again?" A molim in front adds politeness.
- говорите ли енглески?govorite li engleski?do you speak English?The li particle after the verb is what makes it a question: Govorite li engleski? comes out word for word as "speak you English?".
- помоћ!pomoć!help!The soft ć again, closer to "ty" than "ch". The same root in hitna pomoc — "urgent help" — the name of the ambulance service.
- изгубио сам сеizgubio sam seI am lostA woman says izgubila sam se: the past tense in Serbian agrees with the speaker's gender, so the ending changes with who speaks.
- не радиne radidoes not workRaditi is both "to work" and "to do" — and it works for appliances too: bojler ne radi — "the boiler is out".
- покварило сеpokvarilo seit brokePast tense with se, and the helper je vanishes here: not "pokvarilo se je" but simply pokvarilo se.
- позовите мајстораpozovite majstoracall a repairmanMajstor is anyone with tools: a plumber, an electrician, a furniture man.
- када ћете доћи?kada ćete doći?when will you come?The future through ću/ćeš/će: ćete doći — "you will come". The will-word is glued into one form.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “unsafe” in Serbian?
One of the rare words that behaves exactly as you would guess. The noun is opasnost — "danger".
- How do you say “does not work” in Serbian?
Raditi is both "to work" and "to do" — and it works for appliances too: bojler ne radi — "the boiler is out".
- How do you say “repeat, please” in Serbian?
The polite imperative. More conversational: mozete li ponovo? — "can you say it again?" A molim in front adds politeness.
- How do you say “when will you come?” in Serbian?
The future through ću/ćeš/će: ćete doći — "you will come". The will-word is glued into one form.
- How do you say “I am lost” in Serbian?
A woman says izgubila sam se: the past tense in Serbian agrees with the speaker's gender, so the ending changes with who speaks.
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 “unsafe” in Serbian?
«опасно», read “opasno”. In a live sentence: “Опасно је купати се овде” — It is unsafe to swim here. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adjective, level A2, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters о, п, а, с, н, о.
How is “опасно” written in Latin letters?
opasno. 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 of the rare words that behaves exactly as you would guess. The noun is opasnost — "danger". 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.