Lingoflyна два корака
- на два коракаna dva korakatwo steps away
“на два корака” (na dva koraka) — two steps away in Serbian. Phrase, level A1, topic — asking the way. Serbian takes na where English says "at a distance of". After dva the noun takes its special counting form: koraka. In a live sentence: “Пијаца је на два корака одавде” (Pijaca je na dva koraka odavde) — The market is two steps away from here. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Serbian | на два корака (na dva koraka) |
| Read in Latin letters | na dva koraka |
| Translation | two steps away |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Serbian takes na where English says "at a distance of". After dva the noun takes its special counting form: koraka.
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: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- где је?gde je?where is...Literally "where is": the linking je is compulsory where English manages without it. For plurals the link changes: gde su? — "where are...?".
- овдеovdehereBosnia and Montenegro say ovdje. The pair to know: onde — "over there", a bit farther than tamo.
- тамоtamothereCovers both "there" as a place and "there" as a direction — one word where English needs two. Tamo-amo means "back and forth".
- десноdesnoto the rightFrom desnica, the right hand. English keeps the same ancient idea in "dexterous" and "dexterity" — the right side as the skillful side.
- левоlevoto the leftGives levak, "a left-hander". Next to it the great trap: pravo is not "right" — it is "straight ahead".
- правоpravostraight aheadThe classic trap: pravo means STRAIGHT. For the right-hand side you need desno — check before you turn.
- близуblizuclose byBoth an adverb and a preposition with the of-form: blizu stanice — "close to the station". The comparative is bliže — "closer".
- далекоdalekofarNot stressed on the last syllable: dictionaries give dalèko, and in everyday speech dàleko is heard too. With a preposition: daleko od centra — "far from the center".
- како да дођем доkako da dođem dohow do I get to...Literally "how do I walk up to": Serbian builds it with da plus the present tense. Do demands the of-form after it.
- доћи доdoći doto get toDoći do is getting somewhere by any means, on foot included. The close stići do stresses that the goal was reached. Both take the of-form.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “two steps away” in Serbian?
Serbian takes na where English says "at a distance of". After dva the noun takes its special counting form: koraka.
- How do you say “close by” in Serbian?
Both an adverb and a preposition with the of-form: blizu stanice — "close to the station". The comparative is bliže — "closer".
- How do you say “there” in Serbian?
Covers both "there" as a place and "there" as a direction — one word where English needs two. Tamo-amo means "back and forth".
- How do you say “to get to” in Serbian?
Doći do is getting somewhere by any means, on foot included. The close stići do stresses that the goal was reached. Both take the of-form.
- How do you say “straight ahead” in Serbian?
The classic trap: pravo means STRAIGHT. For the right-hand side you need desno — check before you turn.
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 “two steps away” in Serbian?
«на два корака» (na dva koraka), read “na dva koraka”. In a live sentence: “Пијаца је на два корака одавде” (Pijaca je na dva koraka odavde) — The market is two steps away from here. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters н, а (a), д, в, а (a), к, о (o), р, а (a), к, а (a).
How is “на два корака” (na dva koraka) written in Latin letters?
na dva koraka. 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?
Serbian takes na where English says "at a distance of". After dva the noun takes its special counting form: koraka. 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.