How do you say Merry Christmas in Serbian? The simplest and most useful greeting is Srećan Božić! This short Serbian lesson gives you the greeting in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts, shows you how to answer the traditional Christmas salutation and explains why the ending of srećan changes in a New Year greeting.
First, enjoy this short video wishing all the followers of LearnSerbianBlog a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
How to say Merry Christmas in Serbian
Latin script: Srećan Božić!
Cyrillic script: Срећан Божић!
English: Merry Christmas!
The letter ć represents a soft sound, similar to a very gentle English ch. The word Božić is related to Bog, meaning “God”, and may be understood as “the little God” or “young God”, referring to the birth of Christ.
The traditional Serbian Christmas greeting
On Christmas Day, you will also hear the traditional Orthodox Christian greeting:
Hristos se rodi! / Христос се роди!
Christ is born!
The customary response is:
Vaistinu se rodi! / Ваистину се роди!
Truly, He is born!
You can hear and practise this exchange in the earlier lesson Srećan Božić – Hristos se rodi.
How to say Happy New Year in Serbian
Srećna Nova godina! / Срећна Нова година!
Happy New Year!
You may also hear Srećnu Novu godinu! This accusative form is used when part of a longer, understood expression such as:
Želim vam srećnu Novu godinu. / Желим вам срећну Нову годину.
I wish you a happy New Year.
Here is the small but important grammar difference:
- srećan Božić – Božić is masculine
- srećna Nova godina – godina is feminine
- srećnu Novu godinu – the feminine phrase changes in the accusative
A short Serbian holiday practice
Complete these greetings before checking the answers below:
- Srećan __________!
- Srećna Nova __________!
- Hristos se __________!
- Vaistinu se __________!
Show the answers
1. Božić 2. godina 3. rodi 4. rodi
Which Serbian Christmas greeting should you use?
Srećan Božić! is an easy, universal choice when you want to wish someone a merry Christmas. Use Hristos se rodi! when you would like to give the traditional greeting, and be ready to answer Vaistinu se rodi! when somebody says it to you first.
Srećan Božić i srećna Nova godina to all learners of Serbian!