овај
“овај” (ovaj) — this in Serbian. Pronoun, level A1, topic — pronouns. Three steps, like in Spanish: ovaj by me, taj by you, onaj over there. Distance measured from the speaker. In a live sentence: “Ова кафа је врло добра” — This coffee is very good. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters о, в, а, ј. One of 26 words in the set “pronouns” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | овај |
| Read in Latin letters | ovaj |
| Translation | this |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A1 |
- овајovajthis
Why it looks that way
Three steps, like in Spanish: ovaj by me, taj by you, onaj over there. Distance measured from the speaker.
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.
- Ова кафа је врло добраOva kafa je vrlo dobraThis coffee is very good
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- јаjaIOften dropped in speech: the verb ending already says who acts, so ja appears only for emphasis — like Italian io or Spanish yo.
- тиtiyou (informal)Usually dropped too, since the verb ending names the person. Keep it when contrasting: ja radim, a ti spavas — "I work and you sleep".
- виviyou (formal or plural)Serbs capitalize polite Vi in writing. One word for a group and for one respected stranger — the same double duty English "you" does.
- онonhePlural forms keep gender: oni for men or a mixed group, one for women, ona for things.
- онаonasheWatch the plural trap: ona is "she", but one is "they" about women, and a plural ona means "they" about things.
- миmiweStress splits the word: stressed MI is "we" (mi idemo), while the little unstressed mi means "to me" (drago mi je).
- ониonitheyFor men or a mixed group only; women are one, things are ona. The plural does not merge genders the way English "they" does.
- мојmojmyBehaves like an adjective: it agrees in gender and case — moja kuca "my house", mog brata "of my brother".
- твојtvojyour (informal)Declines exactly like moj. The polite pair vas/Vas is written with a capital V when addressing one person respectfully.
- нашnašourNot to be confused with nas, the "us" form of mi — a single letter s-with-hachek (š) separates "our" from "us".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “this” in Serbian?
Three steps, like in Spanish: ovaj by me, taj by you, onaj over there. Distance measured from the speaker.
- How do you say “they” in Serbian?
For men or a mixed group only; women are one, things are ona. The plural does not merge genders the way English "they" does.
- How do you say “you (formal or plural)” in Serbian?
Serbs capitalize polite Vi in writing. One word for a group and for one respected stranger — the same double duty English "you" does.
- How do you say “our” in Serbian?
Not to be confused with nas, the "us" form of mi — a single letter s-with-hachek (š) separates "our" from "us".
- How do you say “we” in Serbian?
Stress splits the word: stressed MI is "we" (mi idemo), while the little unstressed mi means "to me" (drago mi je).
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 “this” in Serbian?
«овај», read “ovaj”. In a live sentence: “Ова кафа је врло добра” — This coffee is very good. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A1, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters о, в, а, ј.
How is “овај” written in Latin letters?
ovaj. 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?
Three steps, like in Spanish: ovaj by me, taj by you, onaj over there. Distance measured from the speaker. 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.