From a glass of water to a quiet afternoon, treba mi turns everyday needs into one of Serbian’s most useful patterns.

I need = Treba mi


I guess one of the most needed verbs in a language must be the verb to need = trebati :) It is a really handy word in Serbian, because of the two following reasons:

Firstly, this verb doesn't conjugate, because in its simplest meaning "I need (something)" we actually use "Treba mi" where "mi" means "to me". If you want to say "You need", it will be "Treba Vam" (formal version) or "Treba ti" (informal version). Therefore, you'll simply change the pronoun as follows:



Secondly, because in Serbian this phrase sounds like the passive in deep structure, the noun always takes a subject case, which is Nominative. (A hamburger is needed to/by me = Treba mi hamburger). Therefore, you don't need to change its form, i.e. no declension :) Lovely! Take a look at the previous examples and the words which follow "Treba ... " phrase. No cases, at all:


  1. hamburger - a hamburger
  2. pica - a pizza
  3. vino - a wine
  4. muzika - music
  5. restoran - a restaurant
  6. burek - burek (a special kind of pie)
  7. mleko - milk
Now, let's practice the pronunciation of this useful phrase together:



1. Šta ti treba? = What do you need?
2. Šta Vam treba? = What do You need? (formal one)
3. Treba mi = I need
4. Ne treba mi = I don't need


Tomorrow, we'll be doing some exercises connected with this video lesson and recording our own XO game :D



Five ways to say what you need

Latin scriptCyrillic scriptEnglish
Deci trebaju tople jakne.Деци требају топле јакне.The children need warm jackets.
Treba mi nova olovka.Треба ми нова оловка.I need a new pencil.
Trebaju mi dve karte.Требају ми две карте.I need two tickets.
Da li ti treba pomoć?Да ли ти треба помоћ?Do you need help?
Nama treba više vremena.Нама треба више времена.We need more time.

Listen for treba before you translate it

Treat Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need as spoken language before analysing it on the page. Read or play the original once for the main message, return for the key forms, and finish by producing one sentence without looking.

treba mi and its logic

The pattern treba mi places the needed thing in the grammatical subject role, while the person appears as a dative clitic. Compare treba mi, treba ti and treba nam, and keep number agreement in mind: treba mi knjiga but trebaju mi knjige. In this particular lesson, use that principle to interpret the examples connected with Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need.

Say what you need today

Select the sentence closest to your life and make it true for you. Add a reason or time expression, ask another person a related question, and answer it without reading. For this post, keep your final version connected with the situation in Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need.

The middle column is not a translation but the same sentence in Cyrillic. Compare it with the Latin version, close the English column and check whether both forms trigger the same meaning. Apply that script strategy to the vocabulary in Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need.

Check your Serbian: Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need

Test active production: cover the examples, translate each cue and supply two Serbian spellings—Latin and Cyrillic—before opening the answer key. Keep every answer connected with Most Frequent Phrases in Serbian - I Need.

  1. The children need warm jackets.
  2. I need a new pencil.
  3. I need two tickets.
  4. Do you need help?
  5. We need more time.

Answers for the phrases with treba

  1. Deci trebaju tople jakne.
    Деци требају топле јакне.
  2. Treba mi nova olovka.
    Треба ми нова оловка.
  3. Trebaju mi dve karte.
    Требају ми две карте.
  4. Da li ti treba pomoć?
    Да ли ти треба помоћ?
  5. Nama treba više vremena.
    Нама треба више времена.