Serbian numbers and counting

In this lesson, we will learn Serbian numbers and — what is even more important — the counting rules. In Serbian, the form of a noun changes depending on the number in front of it, so pay special attention to the second part of this lesson.

Cardinal numbers

0 – nula	11 – jedanaest	30 – trideset	300 – trista
1 – jedan	12 – dvanaest	40 – četrdeset	400 – četiristo
2 – dva	13 – trinaest	50 – pedeset	500 – petsto
3 – tri	14 – četrnaest	60 – šezdeset	600 – šeststo
4 – četiri	15 – petnaest	70 – sedamdeset	700 – sedamsto
5 – pet	16 – šesnaest	80 – osamdeset	800 – osamsto
6 – šest	17 – sedamnaest	90 – devedeset	900 – devetsto
7 – sedam	18 – osamnaest	100 – sto	1000 – hiljada
8 – osam	19 – devetnaest	101 – sto jedan	2000 – dve hiljade
9 – devet	20 – dvadeset	110 – sto deset	1 000 000 – milion
10 – deset	21 – dvadeset jedan	200 – dvesta	1 000 000 000 – milijarda

Compound numbers are simply put one after another, without any connecting words:

245 – dvesta četrdeset pet

1978 – hiljadu devetsto sedamdeset osam

The numbers JEDAN and DVA change by gender:

Jedan (m), jedna (f), jedno (n) – one: jedan grad – one city, jedna žena – one woman, jedno dete – one child

Dva (m, n), dve (f) – two: dva grada – two cities, dve žene – two women

Counting rules — very important!

The form of the noun depends on the last word of the number:

1 (and 21, 31, 101…) — the noun is in the nominative singular:

Jedan dinar – one dinar, dvadeset jedan dinar – twenty-one dinars

2, 3, 4 (and 22, 23, 24, 33…) — the noun is in the genitive singular:

Dva dinara – two dinars, tri žene – three women, četiri grada – four cities

5 and more (and 11–19, 25, 30, 100…) — the noun is in the genitive plural:

Pet dinara – five dinars, deset žena – ten women, sto gradova – one hundred cities

Notice that the numbers 11–19 always take the genitive plural, even though they end in words like “jedanaest”: jedanaest dinara, dvanaest žena.

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third…) behave like adjectives — they change by gender, number, and case:

Prvi (m), prva (f), prvo (n) – first

Drugi – second

Treći – third

Četvrti – fourth

Peti – fifth

Šesti – sixth

Sedmi – seventh

Osmi – eighth

Deveti – ninth

Deseti – tenth

Jedanaesti – eleventh, dvadeseti – twentieth, dvadeset prvi – twenty-first, stoti – hundredth

In compound ordinal numbers, only the last word gets the ordinal form: dvadeset prvi vek – the twenty-first century.

Examples

Koliko to košta? – How much does it cost?

Ovo košta trista dinara – This costs three hundred dinars

Imam dva brata i jednu sestru – I have two brothers and one sister

U našem gradu ima pet muzeja – There are five museums in our city

Ona živi na trećem spratu – She lives on the third floor

Ovo je moj prvi čas srpskog jezika – This is my first Serbian lesson

Kupili smo četiri karte – We bought four tickets

Čekam te već dvadeset minuta – I have already been waiting for you for twenty minutes

Moja baka ima osamdeset dve godine – My grandmother is eighty-two years old

Autobus broj sedam ide do centra – Bus number seven goes to the center

Vocabulary

koštati – to cost dinar – dinar (Serbian currency) brat – brother sestra – sister muzej – museum sprat – floor, storey

čas – lesson, class karta – ticket minut – minute godina – year autobus – bus broj – number

Exercises

Write the numbers in words and put the nouns in the correct form

1. Imam 3 (BRAT) – I have three brothers
2. U sobi su 2 (ŽENA) – There are two women in the room
3. Kupio sam 5 (JABUKA) – I bought five apples
4. Grad ima 100 000 (STANOVNIK – inhabitant) – The city has 100,000 inhabitants
5. Čekali smo 15 (MINUT) – We waited for fifteen minutes
6. Ona ima 21 (GODINA) – She is twenty-one years old
7. Ovo je moj 1 (AUTOMOBIL) – This is my first car
8. Živimo na 4 (SPRAT) – We live on the fourth floor

Answers

1: tri brata; 2: dve žene; 3: pet jabuka; 4: sto hiljada stanovnika; 5: petnaest minuta; 6: dvadeset jednu godinu; 7: prvi automobil; 8: četvrtom spratu