LingoflyBuildings and premises in Serbian
22 words in Serbian on the topic “buildings and premises”: ресторан (restoran) — restaurant, продавница (prodavnica) — shop, станица (stanica) — station, пијаца (pijaca) — market. 22 words can be played from recordings.
22 words on the topic
- 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.
- школаškolaschoolThe elementary one is osnovna škola; the high school is srednja škola.
- поштаpoštapost officeBoth the institution and the mail itself. Email is mejl.
- главна аутобуска станицаglavna autobuska stanicamain bus stationAutobuska stanica is the bus station, though in speech it also means a stop; the city's central terminal specifies itself as glavna — "main".
- пристаништеpristaništepierFrom pristati, "to moor, come alongside", plus the -ište place suffix — the same build as igralište, "playground".
- мењачницаmenjačnicaexchange officeFrom menjač, "money changer", which comes from menjati, "to change". The sign is one word; the rates hang on the glass.
- зоолошки вртzoološki vrtzooSerbian does not compress it: vrt is a garden, so the zoo is literally a "zoological garden".
- циркусcirkuscircusThe Latin ending -us survives, just as in Latin circus: cirkus.
- ватрогасна станицаvatrogasna stanicafire stationFrom vatrogasac, "firefighter" — literally "fire-quencher". Here stanica is a service, not a station you wait at.
- ауто-перионицаauto-perionicacar washPerionica alone is a laundromat, so the car goes to the auto-perionica, through a hyphen.
- туристичка агенцијаturistička agencijatravel agencyAgencija is feminine. After u, the at-form: u agenciji — "at the agency".
- главна улицаglavna ulicamain streetIn a small town this is the address too — the street with the cafes, the pharmacy and everything else.
- билетарницаbiletarnicaticket officeKasa is a shop checkout; the window that sells tickets is biletarnica.
Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
ресторан (restoran) — restaurant. A Serb will call an ordinary eating place a kafana or a kafić; restoran sounds grander than the English word does.
продавница (prodavnica) — shop. From prodavati, "to sell". The corner shop is prodavnica or, colloquially, radnja — two names, same shelves.
станица (stanica) — station. One word for the railway station and the bus stop; the adjective in front decides: železnička stanica, autobuska stanica.
пијаца (pijaca) — market. From Italian piazza — the market really does take the square. One word, market and plaza at once.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ресторан (restoran) — restaurant.
- What is this word?
It is болница (bolnica) — hospital.
- What is this word?
It is мењачница (menjačnica) — exchange office.
- What is this word?
It is билетарница (biletarnica) — ticket office.
- What is this word?
It is маркет (market) — grocery store.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “restaurant” in Serbian?
A Serb will call an ordinary eating place a kafana or a kafić; restoran sounds grander than the English word does.
- How do you say “hospital” in Serbian?
From bol, "pain". The walk-in clinic is dom zdravlja — a separate institution.
- How do you say “exchange office” in Serbian?
From menjač, "money changer", which comes from menjati, "to change". The sign is one word; the rates hang on the glass.
- How do you say “ticket office” in Serbian?
Kasa is a shop checkout; the window that sells tickets is biletarnica.
- 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 to learn the set instead of just reading it
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “restaurant” in Serbian?
«ресторан» (restoran), read “restoran”. A Serb will call an ordinary eating place a kafana or a kafić; restoran sounds grander than the English word does. It is one of 22 words in the set “buildings and premises” — the rest are in the table above.
How many words for buildings and places do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 22 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 22 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.