звонце на вратима
“звонце на вратима” (zvonce na vratima) — doorbell in Serbian. Noun, level A1, topic — home and things. Zvono is a big bell, so the door one takes the diminutive zvonce. Vrata, the door, is always plural. In a live sentence: “Покварило се звонце на вратима” — The doorbell broke. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters з, в, о, н, ц, е, н, а, в, р, а, т.
In short
| Written in Serbian | звонце на вратима |
| Read in Latin letters | zvonce na vratima |
| Translation | doorbell |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- звонце на вратимаzvonce na vratimadoorbell
Why it looks that way
Zvono is a big bell, so the door one takes the diminutive zvonce. Vrata, the door, is always plural.
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.
- Покварило се звонце на вратимаPokvarilo se zvonce na vratimaThe doorbell broke
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- кућаkućahouseWatch the spelling — it is "house", nothing to do with cooking. An apartment is stan, its own little trap.
- покваренpokvarenbrokenBroken down and spoiled alike: pokvaren lift, but also pokvareno meso — "spoiled meat".
- смештајsmeštajaccommodationLodging in general. An apartment is stan, a house is kuća; smeštaj is the word in the ads.
- собаsobaroomA one-room apartment is jednosoban stan; a two-room one, dvosoban — the room count lives in the adjective.
- кухињаkuhinjakitchenA soft nja at the end: ku-hi-nja, not "kuhinia".
- купатилоkupatilobathroomFrom kupati se, "to bathe". A separate toilet room is toalet or, colloquially, ve-ce.
- балконbalkonbalconyJust like the English word. A glazed loggia is also called balkon — no separate word.
- спратspratfloor (of a building)A counting trap: the ground level is prizemlje, and prvi sprat — the "first floor" — is what English calls the second.
- лифтliftelevatorThe word is familiar; the phrase is new: lift ne radi — "the elevator is out of order".
- степеницеstepenicestairsAlways plural, from stepen, "a step". Idem stepenicama — "I am going by the stairs".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “doorbell” in Serbian?
Zvono is a big bell, so the door one takes the diminutive zvonce. Vrata, the door, is always plural.
- How do you say “balcony” in Serbian?
Just like the English word. A glazed loggia is also called balkon — no separate word.
- How do you say “accommodation” in Serbian?
Lodging in general. An apartment is stan, a house is kuća; smeštaj is the word in the ads.
- How do you say “stairs” in Serbian?
Always plural, from stepen, "a step". Idem stepenicama — "I am going by the stairs".
- How do you say “bathroom” in Serbian?
From kupati se, "to bathe". A separate toilet room is toalet or, colloquially, ve-ce.
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 “doorbell” in Serbian?
«звонце на вратима», read “zvonce na vratima”. In a live sentence: “Покварило се звонце на вратима” — The doorbell broke. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters з, в, о, н, ц, е, н, а, в, р, а, т.
How is “звонце на вратима” written in Latin letters?
zvonce na vratima. 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?
Zvono is a big bell, so the door one takes the diminutive zvonce. Vrata, the door, is always plural. 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.