Talking about prices in Serbian brings together interrogatives, numeral government, comparison, and payment instruments. Колико кошта? changes to Колико коштају? when the goods are plural; два динара and пет динара happen to sound alike but arise from different numeral patterns; and a card is used as bare instrumental in платити картицом.
Bargaining is also a social practice, not just a grammar exercise. It can be normal at flea markets, open-air markets, and private sales, but inappropriate in supermarkets, pharmacies, and other fixed-price settings. The phrases on this page should therefore be matched to the situation.
Asking and answering the price
Use Колико кошта...? when the grammatical subject is singular and Колико коштају...? when it is plural. The item being priced is nominative because it controls the verb.
Колико кошта ова ручно рађена чинија?
How much does this handmade bowl cost?
Колико коштају ове кожне рукавице?
How much do these leather gloves cost?
Short Колико је? is natural when the item or total is obvious. More explicit Која је цена? is neutral and useful when comparing offers. Колико дугујем? asks what you owe after a service or meal; it is not the usual way to ask the shelf price.
Узећу две тегле меда. Колико је све заједно?
I'll take two jars of honey. How much is it altogether?
Колико дугујем за поправку бицикла?
How much do I owe for the bicycle repair?
English uses is in How much is this?, but Serbian price grammar normally uses коштати when the item is named. Avoid an English-shaped dummy subject: the product itself is the subject.
Currency forms after numbers
The standard currency of Serbia is the динар. Its written code is RSD, and the Cyrillic abbreviation дин. also occurs. Currency names are common nouns and lowercase in ordinary prose.
| Number pattern | Dinar | Euro |
|---|---|---|
| ending in 1, except 11 | један/двадесет један динар | један/двадесет један евро |
| ending in 2–4, except 12–14 | два/двадесет три динара | два/двадесет три евра |
| 0, 5–20, and endings 11–14 | пет/дванаест/тридесет динара | пет/дванаест/тридесет евра |
The surface form динара occurs after both the 2–4 pattern and larger quantities, but the surrounding agreement can reveal different syntax. Do not infer that all counted nouns behave identically merely because this masculine noun has the same visible ending.
Ова свеска кошта сто двадесет један динар, а она дебља сто двадесет четири динара.
This notebook costs 121 dinars, and that thicker one costs 124 dinars.
Улазница је хиљаду двеста динара по особи.
The ticket is 1,200 dinars per person.
Prices normally use a decimal comma: 3,50 евра. In running Serbian text, a point may separate thousands: 1.250 динара. Spoken forms usually name the currency; a displayed symbol alone does not tell you how the noun declines.
For a fuller account of agreement and case after complex numerals, see numeral government.
Quantities at a market
Market purchases combine numerals with measure nouns, and the measured substance then commonly appears in the genitive: килограм јабука, пола килограма сира, две стотине грама кафе, литар уља.
Дајте ми килограм парадајза и пола килограма младог сира.
Give me a kilogram of tomatoes and half a kilogram of young cheese. (polite or plural addressee)
Треба ми двеста грама млевене кафе, ако може мало крупније млевене.
I need two hundred grams of ground coffee, a little more coarsely ground if possible.
Дајте ми is normal transactional language at a stall when said with ordinary polite intonation. In a boutique, Желео/Желела бих... or Молим вас... may fit better. Formality is conveyed by the whole request, not by adding молим mechanically to every sentence.
Paying: object, amount, and instrument
Платити can take the bill or purchase as an accusative object: платити рачун, карту, поправку. The price amount can follow directly, while the payment method is bare instrumental: картицом, готовином.
Ову јакну сам платила осам хиљада динара на снижењу.
I paid eight thousand dinars for this jacket in the sale. (female speaker)
Да ли могу да платим картицом или примате само готовину?
Can I pay by card, or do you accept cash only?
The person receiving money is commonly expressed with dative in a transfer frame (платио сам мајстору), while за + accusative can identify what a payment covers (платити за доставу). The ordinary direct object needs no за: платити рачун.
Comparing prices
Comparatives agree with the noun: јефтинија торба, скупље ципеле. The comparison standard commonly uses од + genitive.
Овај модел је јефтинији од оног у излогу, али има краћу гаранцију.
This model is cheaper than the one in the display, but it has a shorter warranty.
Имате ли нешто повољније у истој величини?
Do you have anything more affordable in the same size? (polite or plural addressee)
Повољан may mean favorably priced or advantageous, not necessarily absolutely cheap. На снижењу means on sale; попуст is a discount. Цена је снижена describes a reduced price.
Bargaining without sounding hostile
The verb is ценкати се. Useful questions range from gentle to direct:
| Phrase | Pragmatic force |
|---|---|
| Да ли дајете попуст? | neutral question about an available discount |
| Може ли мало јефтиније? | informal, conventional bargaining |
| Да ли бисте могли мало да спустите цену? | careful/polite negotiation |
| Која је последња цена? | direct; common in private sales |
Ако узмем обе лампе, да ли бисте могли да спустите цену за десет одсто?
If I take both lamps, could you lower the price by ten percent?
Разумем, цена је фиксна; онда ћу размислити па вам се јавити.
I understand, the price is fixed; then I'll think about it and get back to you.
In the first example, за десет одсто expresses the amount of reduction. Проценат and одсто are both used for percent; одсто is especially common in prices, statistics, and news. A seller may answer Цена је фиксна or offer Могу да вам дам попуст.
Avoid treating bargaining language as universally polite. Колико је последња цена? may be efficient in a classified-ad exchange but presumptuous at a shop with posted prices.
Situational dialogue
— Колико кошта ова стара полица? — Шест хиљада динара. — Има неколико огреботина. Да ли бисте је продали за пет хиљада? — Могу за пет и по ако је данас преузмете. — У реду, договорено.
— How much is this old shelf? — Six thousand dinars. — It has a few scratches. Would you sell it for five thousand? — I can do five and a half if you pick it up today. — All right, deal. (private sale)
Short пет и по is understood as five and a half thousand because the full amount has already been established. This ellipsis is natural in context but should be avoided where the unit might be ambiguous.
Practice
Task 1: Make the verb and numeral agree
Ask the price of one scarf and several gloves. Answer with 121 dinars and 524 dinars, choosing the correct form of коштати and the currency noun.
Task 2: Negotiate in context
Write one polite discount request at a flea market and one response accepting a fixed price. Include a conditional request and a payment method in the instrumental.
Common Mistakes
Ignoring the plural subject
❌ Колико коштају овај капут?
Incorrect agreement—the singular subject овај капут requires кошта.
✅ Колико кошта овај зимски капут?
How much does this winter coat cost?
Leaving the currency in one fixed form
❌ Цена је двадесет један динара.
Incorrect numeral government—twenty-one selects singular динар, except numbers ending in eleven.
✅ Цена је двадесет један динар.
The price is twenty-one dinars.
Adding са to the payment instrument
❌ Платићу са картицом на каси.
Incorrect for the means of payment—use bare instrumental картицом.
✅ Платићу картицом на каси.
I'll pay by card at the checkout.
Using the wrong case after од
❌ Ова торба је јефтинија од она у излогу.
Incorrect—the comparison standard introduced by од requires genitive feminine оне.
✅ Ова торба је јефтинија од оне у излогу.
This bag is cheaper than the one in the display.
Bargaining in a fixed-price setting
❌ Дајте ми лек упола цене.
Grammatically interpretable but pragmatically inappropriate as a demand at an ordinary fixed-price pharmacy.
✅ Да ли постоји јефтинија замена за овај лек?
Is there a cheaper alternative to this medicine? (appropriate information request)
Key Takeaways
- The item being priced is the subject of коштати, so singular and plural verb forms matter.
- Currency nouns follow the final component of the numeral, with 11–14 blocking the 1 and 2–4 patterns.
- Payment methods use bare instrumental: картицом, готовином.
- Comparisons normally use од + genitive, while за + amount can express a price reduction.
- Bargaining phrases must fit the commercial setting as well as the grammar.
Now practice Serbian
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Shopping and MoneyA2 — Prices, paying, and shopping phrases.
- Numeral Government: 1 / 2-4 / 5+A2 — The master rule for which case a counted noun takes.
- Cardinal Numbers 11-1000A1 — Teens, tens, hundreds, and how to build compound numbers.
- Partitive Genitive and QuantityA2 — The genitive of 'some', amounts, and measure words.
- kupovati / kupiti (to buy)A2 — Buying, with the -ova->uje stem.
- plaćati / platiti (to pay)A2 — Paying, with t->c jotation.