Serbian time expressions combine numeral government, case, and everyday convention. Колико је сати? asks the current time, у колико сати? asks when something happens, and a calendar date changes shape depending on whether it names the date, schedules a slot, or locates an event.
English prepositions do not predict these forms. Learn the question together with the case pattern that answers it.
Asking and answering the time
The neutral question is Колико је сати? “What time is it?” Its noun is genitive plural сати after quantity word колико.
Извините, колико је сати? Мој телефон се искључио.
Excuse me, what time is it? My phone died.
The full answers reveal Serbian numeral agreement:
| Time | Full form | Short conversational answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | Један је сат. | Један је. |
| 2:00 | Два су сата. | Два су. |
| 3:00 | Три су сата. | Три су. |
| 5:00 | Пет је сати. | Пет је. |
| 11:00 | Једанаест је сати. | Једанаест је. |
Сада су два сата, а воз полази у два и двадесет.
It is two o'clock now, and the train leaves at two twenty.
Један takes singular сат and singular је. Два, три, четири take paucal сата and plural су. Numbers five and above take genitive plural сати with singular neuter agreement је in this quantity construction. In everyday answers the noun is often omitted, but the copula pattern remains.
The same count-form logic appears with people, objects, prices, and measurements; numeral government develops the wider system.
Saying minutes
Digital-style speech uses hour + и + minutes, especially when precision matters.
Аутобус стиже у шест и четрдесет пет, ако нема гужве.
The bus arrives at six forty-five if there is no traffic.
Traditional conversational expressions count toward the following hour:
| Clock time | Common expression | Literal structure |
|---|---|---|
| 7:15 | седам и петнаест / четврт после седам | seven and fifteen / a quarter after seven |
| 7:30 | пола осам | half [toward] eight |
| 7:45 | четврт до осам | a quarter to eight |
| 7:50 | десет до осам | ten to eight |
Нађимо се у пола осам испред главног улаза.
Let's meet at half past seven in front of the main entrance.
This is a major English–Serbian trap: пола осам is 7:30, not 8:30. The phrase names half of the path toward eight. In a context where international visitors could misinterpret it, у седам и тридесет is unambiguous.
Пре подне and после подне distinguish a.m. and p.m. when the 12-hour clock needs clarification. Ујутру, поподне, увече, and ноћу often sound more conversational.
Ординација ради од осам ујутру до шест увече.
The clinic is open from eight in the morning until six in the evening.
Official schedules commonly use the 24-hour clock: у 14.30, read у четрнаест часова и тридесет минута in a fully formal announcement or simply у четрнаест и тридесет. Digital interfaces may display a colon, but standard Serbian running text often uses a point between hours and minutes; follow the house style of the document.
Asking when something begins
У колико сати...? asks for a clock time. The answer uses у + accusative time expression.
У колико сати почиње представа? — У двадесет часова.
What time does the performance begin? — At 8 p.m. (formal 24-hour time)
Када ти одговара да се чујемо? — Око пола пет, после посла.
When would suit you for us to talk? — Around four thirty, after work. (informal)
Када/кад asks more broadly “when?” and can be answered with a day, date, or part of the day. У колико specifically requests a clock time. Око + genitive/quantity expression adds approximation: око пет, око пола пет.
Days of the week change with the time relation
Day names are lowercase. A one-time event often uses у + accusative; a repeated day can use instrumental; boundaries use од/до + genitive.
Стижем у среду, али ћу бити слободна тек у четвртак.
I'm arriving on Wednesday, but I won't be free until Thursday. (female speaker)
Средом радим од куће, а петком идем у канцеларију.
On Wednesdays I work from home, and on Fridays I go to the office.
Библиотека ће бити затворена од суботе до понедељка.
The library will be closed from Saturday through Monday.
The forms are not interchangeable: у среду locates one Wednesday, средом describes a recurring schedule, and од суботе marks a starting boundary with genitive.
Months and full dates
Months are lowercase. A month as a containing period uses у + locative: у јануару, у фебруару, у мају.
Нови курс почиње у септембру и траје до краја новембра.
The new course begins in September and lasts until the end of November.
A date that locates an event uses a genitive ordinal day plus a genitive month:
Резултати ће бити објављени двадесет трећег априла.
The results will be published on April twenty-third.
When the sentence names the calendar date itself, use nominative. Scheduling with за uses accusative; the event date without a preposition uses genitive.
Данас је други фебруар, а преглед је заказан за трећи фебруар.
Today is February second, and the appointment is scheduled for February third.
Преглед ће бити трећег фебруара у девет и петнаест.
The appointment will be on February third at nine fifteen.
This three-way contrast—други фебруар nominative, за трећи фебруар accusative, трећег фебруара genitive—is more useful than translating English on.
For other bare temporal genitives and the contrast with measured duration, see genitive time expressions.
Writing numeric dates and years
Serbian numeric order is day–month–year. A period marks an ordinal number:
| Written form | Read as |
|---|---|
| другог фебруара |
| двадесет трећег априла две хиљаде двадесет седме године |
| у 2027. години | у две хиљаде двадесет седмој години |
Пријаве се подносе до 23. 4. 2027. године.
Applications must be submitted by April 23, 2027.
The periods after the day, a numeric month, and the year mark ordinal numbers; they are not decimal points. With a written month, the month is genitive and lowercase. English month-first notation such as 4/5 is dangerous because Serbian readers normally expect day first.
Situational dialogue
— Када вам одговара састанак? — Уторак или среда после подне. — Може ли у среду, 12. марта, у пола три? — Може. Значи, видимо се дванаестог марта у два и тридесет. — Договорено.
— When would the meeting suit you? — Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. — Could we do Wednesday, March 12, at two thirty? — Yes. So, we'll meet on March twelfth at two thirty. — Agreed.
The calendar label after у среду appears as 12. марта, while the full adverbial date is pronounced дванаестог марта. Пола три and два и тридесет name the same time from different perspectives.
Practice
Task 1: Use three date frames
With April 6, write one sentence that names today's date, one that schedules a meeting за that date, and one that says the meeting occurs on that date. Use nominative, accusative, and genitive correctly.
Task 2: Read a schedule aloud
Read 14. 10. 2027. у 18.30 in full Serbian words. Then restate the time conversationally with пола or и тридесет.
Common Mistakes
❌ Сада је два сата.
Incorrect agreement—the paucal phrase два сата takes plural су in this time expression.
✅ Сада су два сата.
It is two o'clock now.
❌ Видимо се у пола седам ујутру, то јест у 7.30.
Incorrect equivalence—пола седам means 6:30, not 7:30.
✅ Видимо се у пола осам ујутру, то јест у 7.30.
We'll meet at half past seven in the morning, that is, at 7:30.
❌ Конференција почиње на двадесет трећег априла.
Incorrect—an adverbial calendar date uses bare genitive, without на.
✅ Конференција почиње двадесет трећег априла.
The conference begins on April twenty-third.
❌ Рок је 23 4 2027 године.
Incorrect standard numeric date—the ordinal components require periods and conventional spacing.
✅ Рок је 23. 4. 2027. године.
The deadline is April 23, 2027.
Key Takeaways
- Ask the current time with колико је сати, but ask an event time with у колико сати.
- Use the agreement frames један је сат, два су сата, пет је сати.
- Пола осам means 7:30 because the expression points toward the next hour.
- Days use different cases for one-time, recurring, and boundary meanings.
- Dates contrast nominative naming, за + accusative scheduling, and bare genitive event location.
- Numeric Serbian dates use day–month–year and periods after ordinal numbers.
Now practice Serbian
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Genitive in Time ExpressionsB1 — Dates, parts of the day, and durations in the genitive.
- Accusative in Time ExpressionsB1 — Durations and 'on/at' time phrases with the accusative.
- Cardinal Numbers 0-10A1 — The basic counting numbers and which decline.
- Ordinal NumbersA1 — First, second, third — and the period that writes them.
- Hyphens, Abbreviations, and NumeralsB1 — A focused guide to hyphens, abbreviations, and numerals in Serbian.
- Days, Months, and SeasonsA1 — Days, the native Serbian month names, and seasons.