Greeting & leave-taking

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Greeting and leave-taking

In “Greetings & politeness lexis” you collected the vocabulary: zdravo, dobar dan, hvala, doviđenja and the other words for meeting and parting, each with its own tone, polite or friendly. Now you will learn to use them: to string them into a real conversation, from “hello” to “goodbye”, each word in its place.

Almost every short encounter in Serbia, at a shop counter, in a lift, on the street, follows the same simple arc. Once you know it, you can carry a whole conversation without stopping to hunt for words.

"How are you?" and how to answer

There are two ways to ask “how are you?”: Kako ste? to someone you address formally, as Vi, and Kako si? to someone you address familiarly, as ti (how to choose comes in the next section). This is a real question, not an empty formula: people usually answer it, and they expect an answer from you too. Here is a stock of answers for every mood:

Cheat sheet

The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.

Greeting and leave-taking

A short encounter has four steps: 1) greeting (Dobar dan / Zdravo); 2) "how are you?" and the answer (Kako ste? → Dobro, hvala); 3) the business; 4) goodbye (Doviđenja / Ćao). One frame for formal and friendly talk; only the words change.

"How are you?" and the answers

Polite (Vi): Kako ste? Familiar (ti): Kako si? A real question: answer it, then hand it back.

biti "to be" hides in the phrases: sam "I am", si "you are" (ti), ste "you are" (Vi, plural). Dobro sam = "I'm fine". Serbian i = "and, too"; "I" = ja: I ja sam dobro = "I'm fine too".

ti or Vi

• Vi: Dobar dan, Kako ste?, Doviđenja; strangers, older people, bosses, officials, doctors, shop assistants (anyone new).
• ti: Zdravo / Ćao, Kako si?; friends, people your age, children, family.
• Pronouns ja, ti, Vi are usually dropped: just Kako si?

A first meeting

Drago mi je "pleased to meet you", said with a handshake. Reply: the same, Takođe "likewise", or Takođe mi je drago.

Goodbye to fit the situation

On the phone

Halo? hello? (picking up). Molim? "yes, I'm listening" / "sorry, what?". Ovde Marko. "Marko here". Ko je to? who is this? Samo trenutak. just a moment. Da li je tu Ana? is Ana there? Goodbyes as face to face.

The arc at work