Lesson 10. Part 1 review: reading simple words

You have reached the end of Part 1. Today is a review. No new letters, just practice.

What we already know

Serbian has two alphabets: Latin and Cyrillic. They are equal.
Each one has 30 letters. Every Latin letter has its own “pair” in Cyrillic.
Special Latin letters: č, ć, š, ž, đ, dž, lj, nj, j. In Cyrillic: ч, ћ, ш, ж, ђ, џ, љ, њ, ј.
The vowels a, e, i, o, u are always read the same way. e sounds like “eh”.
The letter r can be a syllable on its own (vrh, prst).
The stress never falls on the last syllable.

Quick-reference table of special letters

Latin	Cyrillic	Sound
č	ч	hard ch
ć	ћ	soft ch
š	ш	sh
ž	ж	zh
đ	ђ	soft j (as in “jeep”)
dž	џ	hard j (as in “jungle”)
lj	љ	soft l (like “ly”)
nj	њ	soft n (like “ny”)
j	ј	y (as in “yes”)

Reading short phrases

Read on your own first, then check the translation:

Dobro jutro! (Добро јутро!)

— Good morning!

Laku noć! (Лаку ноћ!)

— Good night!

Moja mama i moj tata. (Моја мама и мој тата.)

— My mom and my dad.

Ja imam sestru i brata. (Ја имам сестру и брата.)

— I have a sister and a brother.

Kuća je velika. (Кућа је велика.)

— The house is big.

Njegova knjiga. (Његова књига.)

— His book.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Read and write in Cyrillic: ljubav, knjiga, šećer, đak, jabuka, noć.

Show answer

љубав, књига, шећер, ђак, јабука, ноћ.

Exercise 2

Read and write in Latin: чај, џем, коњ, кућа, моја, срце.

Show answer

čaj, džem, konj, kuća, moja, srce.

Exercise 3

Mark the stress: voda, sestra, čokolada, jabuka, mama.

Show answer

vó-da, sé-stra, čo-kó-la-da, já-bu-ka, má-ma. Never on the last syllable.

Exercise 4

Read the phrase: Dobro jutro, mama!

Show answer

“Dó-bro jú-tro, má-ma!” — “Good morning, mom!”

Exercise 5

Spot the mistake: a child wrote the Serbian word in Cyrillic as йабука. What is wrong?

Show answer

Serbian Cyrillic does not have the letter й. It should be written јабука — with the letter ј.

Exercise 6

In the sentence Moj brat ima crnu mačku. — how many Serbian words do you know for sure?

Show answer

moj — my, brat — brother, ima — has (the verb “to have”), crnu — black (from crn “black”), mačku — cat (from mačka). Translation: “My brother has a black cat.”

What’s next

Congratulations — you have finished Part 1! Now you can read Serbian — both Latin and Cyrillic. You can open any Serbian sign on a map or in a book and at least say it out loud.

In Part 2 we will start speaking: saying hello, introducing ourselves, naming family members, colors, numbers and much more.

Lesson vocabulary

Dobro jutro (Добро јутро): — good morning
Laku noć (Лаку ноћ): — good night
velika (велика): — big (fem.)
imati (имати): — to have
crn (црн): — black

Completed