Lingoflyукрали су ми торбу
- украли су ми торбуukrali su mi torbumy bag was stolen
“украли су ми торбу” (ukrali su mi torbu) — my bag was stolen in Serbian. Phrase, level A2. Literally "they stole the bag to-me": mi is the short to-whom word, the same as in boli me glava. In a live sentence: “Украли су ми торбу у аутобусу” (Ukrali su mi torbu u autobusu) — My bag was stolen on the bus. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Serbian | украли су ми торбу (ukrali su mi torbu) |
| Read in Latin letters | ukrali su mi torbu |
| Translation | my bag was stolen |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "they stole the bag to-me": mi is the short to-whom word, the same as in boli me glava.
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.
- Украли су ми торбу у аутобусуUkrali su mi torbu u autobusuMy bag was stolen on the bus
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 “my bag was stolen” in Serbian?
«украли су ми торбу» (ukrali su mi torbu), read “ukrali su mi torbu”. In a live sentence: “Украли су ми торбу у аутобусу” (Ukrali su mi torbu u autobusu) — My bag was stolen on the bus. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2; written with the characters у (u), к, р, а (a), л, и (i), с (s), у (u), м, и (i), т, о (o)…
How is “украли су ми торбу” (ukrali su mi torbu) written in Latin letters?
ukrali su mi torbu. 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?
Literally "they stole the bag to-me": mi is the short to-whom word, the same as in boli me glava. 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.