Lingoflyциркус
- циркусcirkuscircus
“циркус” (cirkus) — circus in Serbian. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. The Latin ending -us survives, just as in Latin circus: cirkus. In a live sentence: “Циркус је дошао у град” (Cirkus je došao u grad) — The circus has come to town. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ц, и (i), р, к, у (u), с (s). One of 22 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Serbian course.
In short
| Written in Serbian | циркус (cirkus) |
| Read in Latin letters | cirkus |
| Translation | circus |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The Latin ending -us survives, just as in Latin circus: cirkus.
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.
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- ресторанrestoranrestaurantA Serb will call an ordinary eating place a kafana or a kafić; restoran sounds grander than the English word does.
- продавницаprodavnicashopFrom prodavati, "to sell". The corner shop is prodavnica or, colloquially, radnja — two names, same shelves.
- станицаstanicastationOne word for the railway station and the bus stop; the adjective in front decides: železnička stanica, autobuska stanica.
- пијацаpijacamarketFrom Italian piazza — the market really does take the square. One word, market and plaza at once.
- банкаbankabankA false friend to note: banka is the bank. The glass jar is tegla — the household never confuses the two.
- апотекаapotekapharmacyThe all-night one is dežurna apoteka — the "on-duty" pharmacy. The person behind the counter is a farmaceut.
- маркетmarketgrocery storeThe most colloquial word for a corner food shop: idem u market — "I am off to the store". The official name is prodavnica prehrane.
- болницаbolnicahospitalFrom bol, "pain". The walk-in clinic is dom zdravlja — a separate institution.
- канцеларијаkancelarijaofficeThe same word as the old chancery — but in Serbian it is simply an everyday office.
- универзитетuniverzitetuniversityThrough a z: u-ni-ver-zi-tet.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “circus” in Serbian?
The Latin ending -us survives, just as in Latin circus: cirkus.
- How do you say “grocery store” in Serbian?
The most colloquial word for a corner food shop: idem u market — "I am off to the store". The official name is prodavnica prehrane.
- How do you say “station” in Serbian?
One word for the railway station and the bus stop; the adjective in front decides: železnička stanica, autobuska stanica.
- How do you say “university” in Serbian?
In speech people usually name the faculty: studiram na fakultetu, not "at the university".
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Serbian?
The all-night one is dežurna apoteka — the "on-duty" pharmacy. The person behind the counter is a farmaceut.
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 “circus” in Serbian?
«циркус» (cirkus), read “cirkus”. In a live sentence: “Циркус је дошао у град” (Cirkus je došao u grad) — The circus has come to town. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters ц, и (i), р, к, у (u), с (s).
How is “циркус” (cirkus) written in Latin letters?
cirkus. 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?
The Latin ending -us survives, just as in Latin circus: cirkus. 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 this 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.