Build large numbers from two audible pieces
Once you know deset, dvadeset, trideset, četrdeset, pedeset, šezdeset, sedamdeset, osamdeset and devedeset, most numbers up to one hundred become combinations. Serbian writes the parts separately: dvadeset četiri, pedeset sedam, devedeset devet.
The easiest listening strategy is to catch the tens first. If you hear šezdeset…, you already know the number lies between 60 and 69. Keep that first piece in mind while you wait for the unit.
Five numbers with a reason to remember them
| Latinica | Ћирилица | English |
|---|---|---|
| Autobus trideset jedan staje kod pijace. | Аутобус тридесет један стаје код пијаце. | Bus thirty-one stops near the market. |
| Na polici se nalazi četrdeset šest knjiga. | На полици се налази четрдесет шест књига. | There are forty-six books on the shelf. |
| Ulaznica košta sedamdeset dinara. | Улазница кошта седамдесет динара. | The ticket costs seventy dinars. |
| Moja prabaka danas puni devedeset dve godine. | Моја прабака данас пуни деведесет две године. | My great-grandmother turns ninety-two today. |
| Na treningu smo pretrčali osamdeset pet krugova. | На тренингу смо претрчали осамдесет пет кругова. | We ran eighty-five laps during training. |
Use a number ladder, not a list
Start with 20 and add one unit at a time until 29. Next jump to 40 and move backwards from 49. Alternating direction stops your memory from depending only on a memorised chant.
Five stops before one hundred
- Write 38 in Serbian words.
- Write sedamdeset četiri as digits.
- Continue: osamdeset osam, osamdeset devet, ______.
- Convert to Cyrillic: pedeset šest.
- Translate: “The room has sixty-three chairs.”
The number line completed
- trideset osam / тридесет осам
- 74
- devedeset / деведесет
- педесет шест
- U sobi su šezdeset tri stolice. / У соби су шездесет три столице.
Say every answer aloud. Recognising a written number is useful; producing it quickly is what helps at a station, shop or reception desk.
Marina Petrović