путник
“путник” (putnik) — passenger in Serbian. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. From put, "road". One word for the passenger and the traveler — Serbian does not split them. In a live sentence: “Путник без карте плаћа казну” — A passenger without a ticket pays a fine. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters п, у, т, н, и, к. One of 13 words in the set “transport” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | путник |
| Read in Latin letters | putnik |
| Translation | passenger |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- путникputnikpassenger
Why it looks that way
From put, "road". One word for the passenger and the traveler — Serbian does not split them.
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.
- Путник без карте плаћа казнуPutnik bez karte plaća kaznuA passenger without a ticket pays a fine
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- аутобусautobusbusThrough au, not av — Serbian reads every letter it writes: AU-to-bus. The spelling tells you exactly how to say it.
- таксиtaksitaxiUnlike the English noun, it declines: cekam taksi — "I am waiting for a taxi", but idem taksijem — "I am going by taxi". The case does the work.
- станицаstanicastationOne word for the railway station and the bus stop; the adjective in front decides: zeleznicka stanica, autobuska stanica.
- стајалиштеstajalištestopStanica, taught earlier, is the station; the place where a bus stands for a minute is stajaliste, from stajati, "to stand".
- седиштеsedišteseatEkavian sediste; ijekavian sjediste. A second meaning: the headquarters of a firm.
- рукохватrukohvathandrailRuka plus hvatati: the thing you grab with a hand. Stress on the first syllable.
- контролорkontrolorticket inspectorWith -or, not "-yor": Serbian takes the Latin suffix. The feminine is kontrolorka.
- цена вожњеcena vožnjefareLiterally "the price of the ride". Voznja comes from voziti with the z softening to zh. Ijekavian: cijena voznje.
- пренатрпанprenatrpanpackedTwo prefixes on trpati, "to stuff": pre- and na-. Feminine: prenatrpana.
- слободно местоslobodno mestofree seatSlobodan drops its fleeting a in the neuter: slobodno. Ekavian mesto; ijekavian mjesto.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “passenger” in Serbian?
From put, "road". One word for the passenger and the traveler — Serbian does not split them.
- How do you say “ticket inspector” in Serbian?
With -or, not "-yor": Serbian takes the Latin suffix. The feminine is kontrolorka.
- How do you say “station” in Serbian?
One word for the railway station and the bus stop; the adjective in front decides: zeleznicka stanica, autobuska stanica.
- How do you say “free seat” in Serbian?
Slobodan drops its fleeting a in the neuter: slobodno. Ekavian mesto; ijekavian mjesto.
- How do you say “handrail” in Serbian?
Ruka plus hvatati: the thing you grab with a hand. Stress on the first syllable.
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 “passenger” in Serbian?
«путник», read “putnik”. In a live sentence: “Путник без карте плаћа казну” — A passenger without a ticket pays a fine. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”; written with the characters п, у, т, н, и, к.
How is “путник” written in Latin letters?
putnik. 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 put, "road". One word for the passenger and the traveler — Serbian does not split them. 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.