Emergency Serbian should be short, concrete, and easy to confirm. State what happened, give the exact location, say how many people are in danger or injured, and answer the dispatcher's questions. Perfect grammar is less important than clear information, but a few stable frames prevent serious ambiguity.
This is a language guide, not medical or safety instruction. In a real emergency, contact the appropriate service promptly and follow the trained dispatcher's directions. The official direct numbers in Serbia are 192 for police, 193 for fire and rescue, and 194 for emergency medical help; 112 is the general European emergency number available for emergency calls. For nonurgent requests, use the softer frames on Asking for Help.
Call for help
The shortest cries are Упомоћ! “Help!” and Помозите! “Help!” The first is a fixed exclamation; the second is the polite/plural imperative of помоћи.
Упомоћ! Неко је пао и не може да устане!
Help! Someone has fallen and can't get up!
Name the service directly with позвати + accusative:
Позовите хитну помоћ! Једна особа је без свести.
Call an ambulance! One person is unconscious.
Позовите ватрогасце! Из подрума излази густ дим.
Call the fire brigade! Thick smoke is coming from the basement.
Позовите полицију! Неко покушава да провали у стан.
Call the police! Someone is trying to break into the apartment.
In urgent public speech, -те can be polite singular or true plural. It is useful because you may be addressing an unfamiliar person or everyone nearby.
Give your location first
Use Налазим се / Налазимо се + location. A named street treated as an address commonly uses у + locative, as in у Улици краља Петра or у Немањиној; the generic location “in the street” is на улици. Other open places commonly use на + locative, and landmarks use код + genitive.
Налазимо се у Улици краља Петра, испред броја 24.
We are on Kralja Petra Street, in front of number 24.
Несрећа се догодила на раскрсници код главне поште.
The accident happened at the intersection by the main post office.
Give a floor, entrance, or landmark if the address is hard to find:
Адреса је Булевар ослобођења 18, други улаз, четврти спрат.
The address is 18 Bulevar oslobođenja, second entrance, fourth floor.
If you do not know the address, describe a visible landmark and stay on the line. Do not guess a street number.
Say what happened
Useful event frames use the perfect because the event has occurred and its result matters now.
| Serbian frame | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Догодила се саобраћајна незгода. | There has been a traffic accident. |
| Избио је пожар. | A fire has broken out. |
| Неко је повређен. | Someone is injured. |
| Особа не дише. | The person is not breathing. |
| Особа је без свести. | The person is unconscious. |
| Дете се изгубило. | A child is lost. |
Догодила се саобраћајна незгода; две особе су повређене, а једна је још у возилу.
There has been a traffic accident; two people are injured, and one is still in the vehicle.
The participles/adjectives agree: singular повређена особа, plural повређене особе. If you do not know a medical fact, describe only what you can observe and answer the dispatcher's questions.
Report danger and give a warning
Positive imperatives direct an action; не + imperative tells someone to stop or avoid it.
Склоните се са коловоза и останите иза ограде.
Move away from the roadway and remain behind the barrier. (polite/plural)
Не прилазите згради; са крова падају комади црепа.
Do not approach the building; pieces of roof tile are falling from the roof. (polite/plural)
Пазите! Под је мокар и веома клизав.
Watch out! The floor is wet and very slippery.
Only give instructions you are qualified to give. When speaking with emergency staff, relay their words accurately: Останите на вези means “stay on the line.”
Theft, loss, and personal safety
For a stolen possession, Serbian often uses a possessive dative: украден ми је новчаник, украден јој је телефон. The stolen item is the subject and controls agreement.
Украден ми је новчаник са документима и банковним картицама.
My wallet containing my documents and bank cards has been stolen.
Изгубила сам пасош и треба ми помоћ да пријавим нестанак.
I've lost my passport, and I need help reporting it. (female speaker)
Изгубити takes the object directly; пријавити takes what is reported as accusative. At a police station, a calm, specific description is more useful than an idiom.
Questions you may hear
Dispatchers and responders may ask:
- Шта се догодило? — What happened?
- Где се налазите? — Where are you?
- Колико има повређених? — How many people are injured?
- Да ли је особа при свести? — Is the person conscious?
- Да ли постоји непосредна опасност? — Is there immediate danger?
- Како се зовете и са ког броја зовете? — What is your name, and what number are you calling from?
— Где се налазите? — На паркингу иза спортског центра, поред северног улаза.
— Where are you? — In the car park behind the sports center, beside the north entrance.
If you do not understand, say so directly:
Молим вас, поновите питање мало спорије; нисам добро разумео.
Please repeat the question a little more slowly; I didn't understand clearly. (male speaker)
Situational emergency call
— Хитна помоћ, изволите. — Догодила се незгода на бициклистичкој стази. Један човек је пао и не може да устане. — Где се тачно налазите? — Код моста, са стране ближе парку. — Да ли је при свести? — Јесте и разговара са мном. — Останите на вези и одговорите на још неколико питања.
— Emergency medical service, how can I help? — There has been an accident on the cycle path. A man fell and cannot get up. — Where exactly are you? — By the bridge, on the side closer to the park. — Is he conscious? — Yes, and he is talking to me. — Stay on the line and answer a few more questions.
The caller reports only visible facts, locates the scene, and follows the dispatcher instead of improvising medical advice.
Practice
Task 1: Build a three-sentence report
Позовите ватрогасце. Налазимо се у приземљу зграде у Немањиној 12. Дим долази из суседног стана.
Call the fire brigade. We are on the ground floor of the building at 12 Nemanjina Street. Smoke is coming from the neighboring apartment.
Task 2: Make agreement visible
Једна особа је повређена; две особе су повређене; пет особа је повређено.
One person is injured; two people are injured; five people are injured. Answer: singular feminine, paucal plural, then singular neuter quantity agreement.
Common Mistakes
Adding a preposition before the service
❌ Позовите у полицију одмах!
Incorrect government—позвати takes the service as a direct accusative object, without у.
✅ Позовите полицију одмах и реците им тачну адресу.
Call the police immediately and give them the exact address.
Omitting reflexive се from location
❌ Налазимо на паркингу код стадиона.
Incorrect—the location frame is налазити се, so reflexive се is required.
✅ Налазимо се на паркингу код стадиона, поред главног улаза.
We are in the car park by the stadium, beside the main entrance.
Making the stolen object the thief
❌ Мој новчаник је украо у аутобусу.
Incorrect—the sentence makes новчаник the agent; use a passive/result frame or name the thief.
✅ Украден ми је новчаник док сам био у аутобусу.
My wallet was stolen while I was on the bus. (male speaker)
Adding се to дише
❌ Особа не дише се и не одговара.
Incorrect—дисати is not reflexive in this meaning; say особа не дише.
✅ Особа не дише и не реагује на мој глас.
The person is not breathing and does not respond to my voice.
Key Takeaways
- Give the service, exact location, event, and observable condition in short sentences.
- Call a service with позвати + accusative: позвати полицију/ватрогасце/хитну помоћ.
- Location uses налазити се plus the appropriate locative or landmark phrase.
- Emergency imperatives in -те work for a stranger or a group; negative warnings use не + imperative.
- Describe what you know, stay on the line, and follow trained responders' instructions.
Now practice Serbian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Asking for Help and ClarificationA1 — Getting help and checking understanding.
- Health and the BodyA2 — Body parts, symptoms, and the doctor.
- Negative Commands and 'let's / let him'A2 — Prohibitions with nemoj and indirect imperatives with neka.
- Using the Imperative PolitelyB1 — Softening commands and the ti/Vi distinction in requests.
- Locative for Static LocationA2 — Where something IS — the rest/position sense of u and na.
- The Possessive (Sympathetic) DativeB1 — Using the dative for inalienable possession and affectedness.