B1 — intermediateThe social and practical world

Technology & digital life

Lesson opening

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

Technology & digital life: šta ima na mreži?

Digital Serbian is full of English words, but a borrowed word does not stay foreign for long: Serbian spells it the way it sounds, gives it a gender, and declines and conjugates it like one of its own.

Uređaji: what you hold in your hands

Any piece of technology is a uređaj “device”. A phone is a telefon, in speech also simply a mobilni. For “computer” Serbian has a word of its own, računar, from računati “to calculate” (like English computer from compute), but kompjuter is heard too.

Examples

Serbian	English
uređaj, mobilni, pametni telefon, računar, laptop, tablet	device, mobile (phone), smartphone, computer, laptop, tablet
ekran, tastatura, miš, slušalice, kamera, punjač, baterija	screen, keyboard, mouse, headphones, camera, charger, battery
uključiti, isključiti, upaliti, ugasiti, napuniti, povezati se	to switch on, to switch off, to turn on and to turn off (literally “to light” and “to put out”), to charge, to connect

Baterija mi je pri kraju, imaš li punjač? My battery’s nearly dead. Have you got a charger?

Baterija mi je prazna. My battery’s dead.

Ne radi mi telefon. My phone isn’t working.

Internet and connection

Wireless internet is officially bežični internet; out loud it is vaj-faj, simply “Wi-Fi” spelled the Serbian way. In a café you ask for its password with the word šifra, literally “code”: in everyday speech it is any password or PIN, while a login screen says lozinka. Since 1 July 2021 there has been practically no roaming inside the Western Balkans: a Serbian SIM card works “like at home” in Sarajevo and Podgorica.

Examples

Serbian	English
internet, mreža, veza, signal, brzina, provajder, ruter	internet, network, connection, signal, speed, provider, router
mobilni podaci, dopuna, roming, na internetu, preko interneta	mobile data, top-up (prepaid credit), roaming, on the internet, via the internet

Koja je šifra za vaj-faj? What’s the Wi-Fi password?

Nemam signal, javiću ti se kasnije. I’ve got no signal, I’ll get back to you later.

Pao je internet. The internet’s down.

Uključi mobilne podatke. Turn on your mobile data.

Nalog i lozinka: accounts

Examples

Serbian	English
nalog, korisnik, korisničko ime, lozinka, aplikacija	account, user, username, password, app
registrovati se, prijaviti se, odjaviti se, resetovati lozinku, kod za potvrdu	to sign up, to log in, to log out, to reset a password, verification code
dvofaktorska autentifikacija, podešavanja, obaveštenja	two-factor authentication, settings, notifications
ne radi, zamrzlo se, ažurirati, prevara, sumnjiv link, hakovan nalog	it’s not working, it’s frozen, to update, a scam, a suspicious link, a hacked account

Zaboravio sam lozinku, moram da je resetujem. I’ve forgotten my password, I need to reset it.

Nalog mi je hakovan, moram hitno da promenim lozinku. My account’s been hacked, I have to change my password right away.

Cheat sheet

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

Technology & digital life

Devices and connection

Serbian	English
uređaj, mobilni, računar, ekran, tastatura, miš, slušalice, punjač, baterija	device, mobile, computer, screen, keyboard, mouse, headphones, charger, battery
uključiti / upaliti, isključiti / ugasiti, napuniti	switch on, switch off, charge
internet, mreža, veza, vaj-faj, šifra, mobilni podaci, roming	internet, network, connection, Wi-Fi, password (colloq.), mobile data, roaming

Always na + locative (not “na internet”): na internetu, na sajtu, na mreži; “via the internet”: preko interneta; “to my email”: poslati na mejl.

Accounts and glitches

Serbian	English
nalog, korisničko ime, lozinka, aplikacija, podešavanja, obaveštenja	account, username, password, app, settings, notifications
registrovati se, prijaviti se, odjaviti se, resetovati lozinku, kod za potvrdu	sign up, log in, log out, reset a password, verification code
ne radi, zamrzlo se, pao je internet, baterija je prazna, prevara, hakovan nalog	not working, frozen, internet down, battery dead, scam, hacked account

Anglicisms: three rules

By sound: mejl (imejl), sajt, fajl, lajk, link, onlajn, apdejt, daunlod, hešteg.
Gender and case: a consonant = masculine (mejl — mejla — mejlu — mejlom), -a = feminine (aplikacija — aplikacije — aplikaciju); one-syllable masculine: plural -ovi (mejlovi, sajtovi, lajkovi).
Verbs in -ovati, present in -uj-.

Form	lajkovati
present	lajkujem, lajkuješ, lajkuje, lajkujemo, lajkujete, lajkuju
past / imperative	lajkovao sam, lajkovala sam; lajkuj, lajkujte
same pattern	skrolovati, daunlodovati, aploudovati, apdejtovati, šerovati, restartovati, logovati se, četovati

In apps: preuzeti download, postaviti upload, podeliti share, sačuvati save, ažurirati update, obrisati delete, prijaviti se log in. Speech: skinuti “download”.

Money, e-government, delivery

Serbian	English
mobilno bankarstvo, aplikacija banke, nalog za prenos, QR kod	mobile banking, bank app, payment order, payment QR code
eUprava, eID, zakazivanje termina, zahtev	e-government, electronic ID, booking an appointment, application
onlajn kupovina, korpa, poručiti, dostava, plaćanje pouzećem, reklamacija	online shopping, basket, to order, delivery, cash on delivery, complaint

Calls and social media

Serbian	English
pozvati, javiti se, videopoziv, poruka, dopisivati se, Čujemo se!	call, get in touch, video call, message, text each other, Talk soon!
društvene mreže, objava, objaviti, komentarisati, pratilac, pratiti, zapratiti, otpratiti	social media, post, to post, to comment, follower, follow, start following, unfollow
priča, storija, hešteg, veštačka inteligencija, čet-bot	story, hashtag, artificial intelligence, chatbot

No marks in chats (ošišana latinica): c = č, ć; s = š; z = ž; dj = đ. Write them yourself.