три
“три” (tri) — three in Serbian. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. After dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years. In a live sentence: “Чекам већ три сата” — I have been waiting for three hours. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters т, р, и.
In short
| Written in Serbian | три |
| Read in Latin letters | tri |
| Translation | three |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
- триtrithree
Why it looks that way
After dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years.
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.
- Чекам већ три сатаČekam već tri sataI have been waiting for three hours
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- једанjedanoneChanges with gender: jedan kafic, jedna kafa, jedno pivo. The word before your order always agrees with it.
- дваdvatwoGender matters up to four: dva stola but dve kafe. From three upward the noun takes a special counting form.
- четириčetirifourThe last number with its own noun form: cetiri dana. From pet onward the noun goes genitive plural: pet dana — literally "five of days".
- петpetfiveSounds like the animal word "pet" — resist the association; the p is crisp and the e short. From here nouns count in the genitive plural.
- шестšestsixA sound cluster with three faces: sest is "six", sesti is "sixth", and sesti with a long e is "to sit down". One vowel move, three words.
- седамsedamsevenEasier to anchor to sedmi, "seventh", than to English "seven" — the se-DA-m rhythm is what you will actually hear.
- осамosameightDo not meet it as osim — "except". One letter turns the number into a preposition: osim mleka — "except milk".
- деветdevetnineThe ordinal is deveti. Devetsto is "nine hundred", but "ninety" is devedeset — the t quietly drops.
- десетdesettenA family root: desetak means "about ten", decenija is "a decade". Ten minutes on foot: deset minuta peske.
- килограмkilogramkilogramIn speech usually just kilo: dva kila paradajza — "two kilos of tomatoes".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “three” in Serbian?
After dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years.
- How do you say “eight” in Serbian?
Do not meet it as osim — "except". One letter turns the number into a preposition: osim mleka — "except milk".
- How do you say “four” in Serbian?
The last number with its own noun form: cetiri dana. From pet onward the noun goes genitive plural: pet dana — literally "five of days".
- How do you say “kilogram” in Serbian?
In speech usually just kilo: dva kila paradajza — "two kilos of tomatoes".
- How do you say “seven” in Serbian?
Easier to anchor to sedmi, "seventh", than to English "seven" — the se-DA-m rhythm is what you will actually hear.
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 “three” in Serbian?
«три», read “tri”. In a live sentence: “Чекам већ три сата” — I have been waiting for three hours. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters т, р, и.
How is “три” written in Latin letters?
tri. 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?
After dva, tri and cetiri the noun stands in a form of its own: tri sata, not tri sati. You will hear it constantly — in hours, days, years. 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.