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Showing posts with label Serbian phrases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serbian phrases. Show all posts

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Question Words in Serbian

Question Words in Serbian


With all the question words changing according to the cases, I bet it's pretty confusing when it comes to asking WH questions in Serbian. That's why I'll share a series of posts with question words in Serbian. 

The first one is going to be an easy one, with the basic questions such as:



  1. KAD - When?
  2. ZAŠTO - Why?
  3. ŠTA - What?
  4. KOJI - Which?
  5. KO - Who?
  6. KOLIKO DUGO - How long?
  7. KOLIKO ČESTO - How often?
  8. KAKO - How?
  9. GDE - Where?
  10. ODAKLE - Where from?
  11. KUDA - Where to?
  12. KOLIKO - How much/ many? 
  13. ČIJI - WHOSE?

Exercises with Question Words in Serbian 

  • The link to the micromatch game:



FLASHCARDS with Serbian Question Words

  • The link to the flashcards:

TEST with Serbian Question Words

  • The link to the test:
Expect a more complicated set of questions words with the video lesson very soon!

For downloadable materials and more video lessons, check out my free course SerbianPhrases on easy.serbianphrases.com  :)

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Serbian Phrases - Serbian Language Course

 Let me share with you one lesson from the brand new Serbian Phrases course I've been working on. As you can see from the table of contents, it covers a lot of phrases used in various situations:

Serbian Phrases - Table of Contents

Situations in Serbian

  • General phrases
  • Greetings - Saying hello and goodbye
  • Talking about the Weather
  • Thank you phrases
  • Numbers and  Telling the time
  • Talking about family
  • Asking for directions
  • Giving directions
  • At the bank
  • At the supermarket
  • At the market
  • At the chemist's
  • At the hotel
  • At the restaurant
  • At the café or bar
  • At the post office
  • At the travel agency
  • At the doctor's
  • At the dentist's
  • At the museum
  • At the customs
  • Shopping for clothes
  • Renting a car
  • Travelling by taxi
  • Travelling by bus
  • Travelling by plane
  • Travelling by train 


Serbian phrases - Vocabulary 

The list of the most frequently used phrases:

  1. da - yes
  2. ne - no
  3. kako se kaže - how do you say
  4. znači - means
  5. šta znači "pica"? - what does "pizza" mean?
  6. hamburger znači "hamburger" - hamburger means "hamburger"
  7. ne razumem - I don't understand
  8. ne znam - I don't know
  9. znam - I know
  10. razumem - I understand
  11. levo - left
  12. desno - right
  13. baš - really
  14. nema problema - no problem

General phrases in Serbian  - Game


General phrases in Serbian  - Exercises 


General phrases in Serbian  - Printable tests

Now, you can download the following PDF files to practice these words:

  1. Test  
  2. Airplanes
  3. Multiple choice 
  4. Anagrams 
Uživajte igrajući igrice i učeći srpski :) 

Uskoro stiže kurs Serbian Phrases ili Fraze na srpskom




Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Most Common Serbian Phrases

What are the most common Serbian phrases you should keep using when learning Serbian?


From the very first lesson try to use the most common phrases in Serbian to ask for the meaning of the word, or to simply respond "I don't know". Let me list a few useful phrases:

  • da - yes
  • ne - no
  • kako se kaže - how do you say
  • znači - means
  • šta znači "pica"? - what does "pizza" mean?
  • hamburger znači "hamburger" - hamburger means "hamburger"
  • ne razumem - I don't understand
  • ne znam - I don't know
  • znam - I know
  • razumem - I understand
  • levo - left
  • desno - right 
  • baš - really
  • nema problema - no problem

Serbian Phrases with Pronunciation

Here comes a super easy and fun video lesson with these phrases:

 ;

Exercises which follow these Serbian Phrases  

Let me share with you the exercise which I was doing while making this video. 



Tuesday, May 24, 2022

How to Say Thank You in Serbian?

 Serbian THANK YOU Phrases  

Today we are practicing easy Serbian THANKING phrases with the bunch of nouns. The idea of the exercise is to properly connect HVALA NA and the following words:

  • poklon 
  • pokloni
  • burek
  • voda
  • pivo 
  • jabuke
  • sve

Primer: Hvala na poklonu vs. Hvala na poklonima

For the full featured video with the pronunciation as well as how to play the games, join the free  SerbianPhrases Course at easy.SerbianPhrases.com  :)

Exercises with Serbian Thank You Phrases





Speaking Exercise - Video lesson 



 For more fun Serbian language apps, check out LING APP ! Have fun!  

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Tic Tac Toe Serbian - Useful Phrases

Tic Tac Toe Serbian - Useful Phrases


Useful Phrases in Serbian

In this video lesson we are learning some most important phrases which will help us to keep speaking in Serbian:

  • Šta znači ... ? = What does ... mean?
  • Kako se kaže ...? = How  do you say ...?
  • Ne razumem = I don't understand
  • Razumem = I understand
  • Znam = I know
  • Ne znam = I don't know

Exercises with Useful Phrases


You can also have fun printing the fun sheets I have created for you.



Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Useful Phrases when Learning Serbian

It is a good idea to use at least two Serbian phrases from the very first lesson:
  • Šta znači? = What does ... mean?
  • Molim? = Pardon?
Of course, there are other ones which are useful, and you can start using them while learning the language. In this blog post, the idea is for you to practice them with the following Quizlets:








Friday, June 09, 2017

Common Phrases in Serbian - Destinacija broj jedan

Today we are learning two simple phrases in Serbian:


For the pronunciation and additional exercises, check out my Patreon blog :)

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Hteti - Will or Want?

One of the frequent questions is how to translate Serbian "hteti" into English?

Made with ToonyTool.com

Hteti - Will or Want?

The simple truth is that the verb "hteti" can be translated into English in both ways, either will or want to, or even wish. The best way is to learn through some examples.

Želeti vs. Hteti

  1. Hoćeš li mi  pomoći? Will you help me? (pure future ) - Hoću! Pomoći ću ti (Yes, I'll help you)
  2. Hoćeš li prestati već jednom? Will you stop it once and for all? - Neću! (I won't)
  3. Hoćeš li da mi pomogneš? Do you want to help me? (a bit stronger than "want") - Naravno! Of course! Svakako! Sure! 
  4. Da li hoćeš da idemo u Beograd? Do you want us to go to Belgrade?
  5. Želiš li da mi pomogneš? Do you wish/want to help me? (a bit more like "wish" than "want") - Kako da ne! Sure!
  6. Šta želiš da ti kupim u Beogradu? What do you want me to buy you in Belgrade?

Accepting and Declining 


The other set of useful phrases which we can learn from is how to best respond to questions starting with "Will you?" or "Do you want to....?"

Prihvatanje/potvrđivanje = Accepting
  • Naravno
  • Svakako
  • Nema problema
  • Kako da ne
  • Hoću (if the question starts with Hoćeš li...?)
  • Želim (if the question starts with Želiš li...?)
  • Da
  • Jašta (colloquial + archaic, but fun)
Odbijanje = Declining

  • Nema šanse (no way)
  • Nikako (no way)
  • Neću / Ne želim
  • Ne, hvala (no, thanks)
  • Jok (colloquial + archaic, but fun)


Friday, March 17, 2017

Authentic Serbian - Greetings and Introductions

While conducting a survey about your needs in learning Serbian, some of you mentioned that they would appreciate videos with authentic Serbian, spoken in everyday situations by ordinary people.

This video with a brand new  Serbian presidential candidate who is meeting the editorial team of a local newspaper is an excellent example of something like that. In it, Beli gets introduced with a lot of people, and you will be able to hear how ordinary people say "pleased to meet you".



I will list all the most common introductory phrases along with some others (not heard in the video), so your task will be simple. Just tick the phrases you hear while watching the video!
  1. Zdravo!
  2. Ćao!
  3. Dobar dan!
  4. Dobro veče!
  5. Ovo je ...
  6. Dobrodošao!
  7. Radujemo se tvojoj poseti
  8. Radujem se Vašoj poseti
  9. Drago mi je!
  10. To su naše lektorke.
  11. Bolje vas našao!
  12. Kako ste Vi?
  13. Kako si ti?
  14. Hvala.
  15. Kako ste?
  16. Mnogo vam je lepo ovde.
  17. Baš mi je drago.
  18. Jeste dobri?
  19. Jeste dobro?
  20. Poštovanje!
  21. Izvoli, dobrodošao!
  22. Izvolte, dobrodošli!
  23. Izvolite. 
  24. Hoćete neku kafu?
  25. Želite li kafu?
  26. Šta želite da popijete?
  27. Ne hvala.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Serbian Phrases: Don't Argue with Me

Would it be funny for you to hear a phrase "Don't argue with mine!", whatever that might mean?

Here comes a short clip with a similar phrase, which is obviously wrong and make people laugh (together with a specific pronunciation of  Mr. Šojić's "ć" in "ćao" :)



- Nemaš! Šta moliš? Imaš (li) kod sebe 350 Evra?
- Ma gospodine Šojiću...
- Ma, ćao! Nemaš! Ćao! Ne raspravljaj se sa mene! Ne raspravljaj se!

Don't argue with me!

The correct Serbian phrase: "Don't argue with me" would be as follows:

- Ne raspravljaj se sa mnom! (not "sa mene"=)

The verb "to argue" is always used with "se" form: raspravljati se. A few synonyms would be:
svađati se and prepirati se. (Ne svađaj se sa mnom / Ne prepiri se sa mnom). 

 Instrumental of Serbian Pronouns

The preposition "with" requires the Instrumental  form of the pronoun so you can use the mentioned verbs with the following pronouns as well:
  • with me = sa mnom
  • with you = sa tobom
  • with him/it = sa njim
  • with her = sa njom
  • with us = sa nama
  • with you = sa vama / Vama
  • with them = sa njima
If you would like to get all my video lessons with explanations in English, translations and additional exercises like the ones above, in the meaningful order, consider joining me on Patreon. HVALA!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Practising Phrases in Serbian - I need

If you were happy with my short video lesson about the very simple form of the phrase "I need somethingyesterday, I am sure you are now ready for a few exercises. Let me start with the easier ones and then I'll add some for more advanced students:

  • For Beginners: Practising only "Treba mi +  different international words"

  • For Intermediate students: Practising "Treba + mi/  ti / Vam / mu / joj / nam / im + international words"
d. Test



  • For Advanced students: Practising the past tense form "I needed + something", which is more complicated because here the past tense form of the word has to agree with the direct object (something): "TrebalE su mi jabukE // TrebalI su joj prijateljI // TrebalA nam je vodA" (+ word order with 3rd person Sg of the direct object).


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Serbian Fun Expressions and Idioms

In one of my more advanced Serbian lessons there came up a few expressions which I wanted to share with you today. I will copy-paste a part of the text about Jeremija, with whom you can learn Serbian from the very start.  I'll list the tasks below this short excerpt:

Jeremija je bio veoma srećan tog jutra, jer je bio potpuno siguran da će dobiti povišicu na poslu. Njegov šef je u nekoliko navrata natuknuo Jeremiji da će od sledećeg meseca omastiti brk, kao i da je to potpuno zaslužio. Jeremija se pravio lud i uspešno se uzdržavao da ne vuče šefa za rukav i postavlja dodatna pitanja. Bio je svestan da sve što bude dobio jeste rezultat njegovog sopstvenog rada i da nije jednostavno palo s neba. Posebno mu je bilo milo što ovaj put nije morao da se kiti tuđim perjem. Njegova zasluga je bila očigledna. Kada je tog jutra stigao na posao i otvorio svoju kancelariju, imao je šta da vidi. Na stolu je stajao potpuno nov kompjuter i pored njega još noviji mobilni, a šef je sav sijao od sreće! "Šta sam ti rekao? Borio sam za tebe kao vučica... i izborio sam se! Najnoviji model? Hm? Šta kažeš?" Jeremija nije morao da se pretvara - na njegovom licu se videlo da su mu sve lađe potonule... Bio je 100% siguran da će dobiti veću platu, a sada mu je postalo jasno da je ostao kratkih rukava! Šta će mu sada Spomenka reći?
Right, now there are three tasks for you:
  1. The easiest task: Can you find the synonyms for these words in the text:
  • drago
  • aludirao
  • apsolutno
  • pravi
  • narednog
  • jako
  • blesav
  • totalno
  • puta
  • shvatio
  • sasvim
  • samo
     2. The more difficult task: which phrases and idioms mean:
  • down in the dumps/ in the doldrums
  • fight like a wolf
  • to be absolutely certain about something
  • keep asking for something
  • get a raise
  • take an advantage of something
  • to deck oneself in  borrowed finery
  • to get the worst of a bargain/ to come away empty-handed
     3. The most difficult task: what will Spomenka say to him when he arrives back home? Try to come      up with a suitable idiom or expression. Let me help you with a few ideas, and you try to guess                which ones are the most appropriate:
  • ko drugome jamu kopa sam u nju upada
  • svako nosi svoj krst
  • nema ti ravna
  • prvo skoči pa reci hop
  • nije zlato sve što sija
  • ko rano rani dve sreće grabi
  • doterao je cara do duvara
  • poklonu se u zube ne gleda



Monday, February 03, 2014

Revising Serbian Phrases

It's true that it might be difficult to understand some of the Serbian phrases if pronounced quite fast and somewhat incomprehensibly, but the real challenge is surely how to respond appropriately!

That's why I recorded a new video lesson for you, which can be used at all levels (click stop when you are out of your depth). You can use it in different ways:
  • To check how well you can understand fast speech, simply listen to the phrases and try to jot them down, without watching the video below!
  • If it is too easy, try to hear the phrase and then respond to it, as fast as you can, without clicking the pause button.
  • If you are not sure if you understood the phrases, play the video while watching it. 
  • Now, if you are sure what all the phrases mean, try to respond to them, even try to write down/practice with your language partner, how you'd continue the conversation. 
  • Have fun!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Let's Practice Serbian Cyrillic Script - Part 2

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Warnings in Serbian :)

If you ever wondered how to warn someone in Serbian, let me give you a list of phrases, starting from the most formal ones:
Formal and semi-formal warnings:

  • Dozvoli da te upozorim da ne + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with "Dozvolite da Vas upozorim...)
  • Ono što ja ne bih nikako uradila je da + present (1st person Sg.)
  • Ako me pitaš za savet, nikako nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with "Ako me pitate za savet, nikako nemojTE da...)
Informal warnings:
  • Pazi se + noun in the Genitive case or gerund (verbal nouns ending in -nje, again in Gen.)
  • Nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg or Pl)
  • Šta god da radiš, nikako nemoj da + present (2nd person Sg. - with 2nd p. Pl, start with Šta god da radite, nikako nemojTE da...) 

If you need all these phrases written both in the Cyrillic and Latin script, pronounced slowly, check  Serbian phrases link.

Thursday, August 08, 2013

Serbian Speaking Practice

One of my favourite parts of a language lesson is when my students can speak in Serbian on their own. That's why I enjoy creating digital teaching materials to help them with visual prompts. Here comes one of my recent videos in the speaking practice series covering the topic of weather.

If you are not sure what vocabulary to use, here comes the list of the previous posts with:

So you can feel more confident to speak in Serbian while watching the video:



As you can see in the background there's a photo of a season, so you can make more complicated sentences like:

  • U jesen obično pada kiša i tmurno je.
  • U proleće retko pada sneg (because you can see the snow slide against the spring background). Obično je sunčano i ponekad je kišovito.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Serbian Phrases Course

I think it's been high time I resumed our regular, day-by-day postings with video lessons of the Serbian language. As usual, I'll do my best to help you in the most practical way with the interactive videos, like this one:



This is one of 65 lessons with more than 4.5 hours of content from the course Serbian Phrases, which has finally been completed. All the videos with slow pronunciation are based on phrase lists both in the Serbian Cyrillic and Latin script! There's also an ever-growing number of additional video exercises, like the one above. For all of you who'd like to buy the course and know how to say 'n' write "FaithfulFollower" in Serbian, will  get a significant discount if they  type it in the coupon code box :) Enjoy it!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Serbian Phrases - At the Hotel



This is one of the videos with the slow Serbian pronunciation of the words and phrases written in the Cyrillic script, which I'm currently creating. Feel free to leave your comments and feedback regarding the speed of pronunciation and usefulness of such video lessons.

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Introduction to Serbian Phrases

Since there'll be more visitors to Serbia in the upcoming period, I decided to launch the complete course called Serbian Phrases (this is a free e-book). In the meantime I want to show you one of the recordings:
















and the structure of the course, which is divided into fifteen sections or topics. Each topic has the following structure:
  1. Slowly read phrases - video lesson
  2. Listed phrases as a pdf file, both in Cyrillic and Latin alphabet
  3. Slowly read phrases with Cyrillic text
  4. Dialogue AB
  5. Dialogue A
  6. Dialogue B

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Fraze na srpskom - speaking practice



Watch this video and practise asking basic questions and giving answers. The next step is to ask the same questions with "Vi". You can watch one of the previous video lessons with  Serbian phrases covering the topic " Vi" vs. "Ti" in Serbian.

Serbian Phrases free e-book

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
Photo book