Shopping and Money | Serbian Grammar

Shopping phrases reveal a compact Serbian case system. The item you want is usually accusative, the person who benefits may be dative, the price follows numeral government, and the payment method is instrumental. If you learn тражим јакну, купићу је, кошта две хиљаде динара, платићу картицом as connected patterns, you can replace the nouns without rebuilding the grammar.

Asking for an item

In a shop, Имате ли...? and Тражим... are neutral and polite when used with the formal/plural person. The requested item is accusative.

Добар дан, имате ли ову кошуљу у већем броју?

Hello, do you have this shirt in a larger size?

Тражим удобне ципеле за свакодневно ходање.

I'm looking for comfortable shoes for everyday walking.

Feminine ова кошуља becomes ову кошуљу. Plural удобне ципеле is accusative plural, identical here to nominative plural. У већем броју uses locative after у to describe the size in which the shirt is available.

When pointing, demonstratives must still agree:

Могу ли да погледам онај плави ранац на горњој полици?

May I look at that blue backpack on the top shelf?

Masculine inanimate accusative онај плави ранац looks like nominative. Location на горњој полици is locative.

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Do not memorize only ово as “this.” Choose овај, ова, ово, ови/ове/ова and their case forms from the Serbian noun.

Trying clothes and judging fit

Пробати takes a direct object. Replace a known item with the accusative clitic that matches its Serbian gender: га for капут, је for јакна, их for plural ципеле.

Где је кабина? Хтела бих да пробам ову јакну.

Where is the fitting room? I'd like to try on this jacket. (female speaker)

Ципеле су лепе, али су ми тесне; имате ли већи број?

The shoes are nice, but they're tight on me; do you have a larger size?

In тесне су ми, adjective тесне agrees with plural ципеле, while dative ми identifies the person affected. English “they are too tight for me” does not require an equivalent Serbian preposition.

Овај капут ми добро стоји, али ми је прескуп.

This coat looks good on me, but it's too expensive for me.

Both стоји ми and прескуп ми је use dative experiencer ми. The coat remains nominative and controls masculine agreement.

Price questions and agreement

Use singular кошта with one item and plural коштају with plural items.

Колико кошта ова торба, а колико коштају ове рукавице?

How much does this bag cost, and how much do these gloves cost?

The price is an amount complement without a preposition:

Торба кошта две хиљаде динара, а рукавице хиљаду двеста.

The bag costs two thousand dinars, and the gloves cost twelve hundred.

Serbian динар follows the 1 / 2–4 / 5+ system:

Amount	Form
201	двеста један динар
202	двеста два динара
205	двеста пет динара
211	двеста једанаест динара

The final spoken element controls the form, except that 11–14 belong to the 5+ pattern. With динар, the paucal and genitive plural are both динара, but the rule becomes visible with other nouns.

Имам само три стотине динара, а недостаје ми још сто педесет.

I only have three hundred dinars, and I'm still short by another hundred and fifty.

Недостаје ми uses a dative experiencer: literally, the missing amount “is lacking to me.”

For larger amounts, decimals, and agreement after compound numbers, see numbers in practical use.

Sales, discounts, and fixed prices

На снижењу means “on sale/discounted.” A discount can be попуст од двадесет одсто. Одсто is indeclinable in this percentage use.

Овај модел је на снижењу, али се попуст не односи на додатну опрему.

This model is on sale, but the discount does not apply to accessories.

Да ли је цена са попустом већ означена на етикети?

Is the discounted price already marked on the label?

At a market or in a context where bargaining is expected, Можете ли мало да спустите цену? is a polite negotiation. In a supermarket or ordinary fixed-price shop, it is pragmatically misplaced even though the grammar is correct.

Ако узмем две мајице, можете ли мало да спустите цену?

If I take two T-shirts, could you lower the price a little? (appropriate where bargaining is expected)

The perfective узмем presents a possible completed purchase in the ако-clause. It does not describe an activity happening now.

Buying for someone and using clitics

The purchased item is accusative. A recipient or beneficiary can be dative; за + accusative can instead mark intended use.

Купићу оцу новчаник, а сестри топао шал.

I'll buy my father a wallet and my sister a warm scarf.

Тражимо поклон за колегиницу која одлази у пензију.

We're looking for a present for a colleague who is retiring.

Once the item and recipient are known, dative clitic precedes accusative clitic:

Ако видиш те шоље, купи ми их, молим те.

If you see those mugs, buy them for me, please. (informal singular)

Ми их is the fixed dative–accusative order. The perfective imperative купи asks for one completed acquisition. For a regular shopping habit, use imperfective куповати.

Paying: object, method, and installments

Купити profiles acquiring something; платити profiles settling the charge. The thing paid is commonly a direct object, while method is bare instrumental.

Могу ли да платим картицом или примате само готовину?

Can I pay by card, or do you accept only cash?

Телефон сам купила данас, али ћу га плаћати на дванаест рата.

I bought the phone today, but I'll pay for it in twelve installments. (female speaker)

The standard frames are картицом, готовином, телефоном without са. На рате means in installments. Кеш is widespread (informal), but готовина is neutral and appropriate in formal service language.

Ево пет хиљада динара; задржите кусур.

Here are five thousand dinars; keep the change.

Кусур is the change returned from a cash payment. A receipt is рачун; a fiscal receipt is фискални рачун.

Exchanges and returns

Useful verbs keep ordinary aspect and government: враћати — вратити нешто, мењати — заменити нешто за нешто, имати рачун, тражити повраћај новца.

Желела бих да заменим ову мајицу за већи број.

I'd like to exchange this T-shirt for a larger size. (female speaker)

Имам рачун, али сам изгубио оригиналну амбалажу.

I have the receipt, but I lost the original packaging. (male speaker)

Заменити X за Y uses accusative for both the item being exchanged and the replacement after за. Whether a return is permitted is a store-policy or legal question, not a consequence of the grammar; ask rather than assume.

Да ли могу да вратим производ ако ми не одговара?

Can I return the product if it doesn't suit me?

Here dative ми marks the person for whom the product is unsuitable.

Situational dialogue

— Извините, имате ли ове панталоне у броју 40? — Имамо, али само у црној боји. — Могу ли да их пробам? — Наравно, кабина је десно. — Одговарају ми. Узећу их. Могу ли да платим картицом? — Можете.

— Excuse me, do you have these trousers in size 40? — We do, but only in black. — May I try them on? — Of course; the fitting room is on the right. — They fit me. I'll take them. Can I pay by card? — You can.

Plural-only панталоне trigger plural ове, их, одговарају. У броју 40 and у црној боји are locative descriptions. Accusative clitic их replaces the known trousers, while instrumental картицом names payment method.

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Track the item through the conversation: full accusative noun phrase first, then the matching clitic га, је, их once it is established.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Ask, try, decide

Choose a feminine item such as јакна. Ask whether the shop has it in another color, ask to try it on, and say you will take it. Use ову јакну → је → узећу је.

Task 2: Say three prices

Give prices ending in 1, 2, and 5 and say динар / динара correctly. Then add whether you will pay картицом or готовином.

Common Mistakes

❌ Колико коштају ова торба?

Incorrect agreement—singular торба requires ова and кошта.

✅ Колико кошта ова торба са кожном ручком?

How much does this bag with a leather handle cost?

❌ Могу ли да пробам је?

Incorrect neutral clitic placement—the unstressed object belongs before the finite verb inside this da-clause.

✅ Могу ли да је пробам?

May I try it on?

❌ Платићу са картицом.

Incorrect for the payment method in standard Serbian—use bare instrumental.

✅ Платићу картицом, а рачун ћу сачувати.

I'll pay by card and keep the receipt.

❌ Ове ципеле ми не одговара.

Incorrect—plural ципеле require plural verb одговарају.

✅ Ове ципеле ми не одговарају; треба ми већи број.

These shoes don't fit me; I need a larger size.

❌ Дај ми попуст!

Inappropriately direct to unfamiliar staff and unsuitable in a fixed-price shop.

✅ Да ли је за овај производ предвиђен попуст?

Is there a discount available for this product?

Key Takeaways

Make the requested or purchased item accusative and keep demonstratives and adjectives in agreement.
Match кошта / коштају to the item and apply numeral government to currency nouns.
A beneficiary may be dative; known objects become correctly placed clitics.
Pay картицом / готовином with bare instrumental and distinguish купити from платити.
Directness that is natural at a market may be inappropriate in a fixed-price shop; grammar and setting work together.

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