Serbian numbers from 11 to 1000 are built in recognizable blocks, but several high-frequency forms contain sound changes that must be learned exactly: четрдесет, not a mechanical form based on четири, and двеста, not двесто. Once the number is built, its final relevant unit usually determines the noun: двадесет један рачун, двадесет два рачуна, двадесет пет рачуна.
That final-unit principle has one essential exception: every number ending in 11–14 takes genitive plural. The contrast сто дванаест рачуна versus сто двадесет два рачуна shows why Serbian counting is a system of agreement, paucal remnants, and government—not simply singular versus plural.
Eleven to Nineteen
The teens are single words. Their modern spelling is fixed; learners should not try to rebuild them letter by letter while speaking.
| Number | Serbian | Number | Serbian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | једанаест | 16 | шеснаест |
| 12 | дванаест | 17 | седамнаест |
| 13 | тринаест | 18 | осамнаест |
| 14 | четрнаест | 19 | деветнаест |
| 15 | петнаест |
All teens govern genitive plural, including 11–14. Their final written digit does not reactivate the 1 or 2–4 pattern.
На полици је остало једанаест непрочитаних књига.
Eleven unread books remained on the shelf.
За радионицу се пријавило четрнаест ученика.
Fourteen students registered for the workshop.
Воз касни осамнаест минута.
The train is eighteen minutes late.
Neutral predicate agreement with a teen quantity is commonly neuter singular: је остало, се пријавило. The noun still refers to multiple entities; the agreement follows the quantified construction.
The Tens
Learn the round tens as complete words:
| Number | Serbian | Pronunciation/spelling trap |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | двадесет | built on два, but fixed as one word |
| 30 | тридесет | one word |
| 40 | четрдесет | not четиридесет |
| 50 | педесет | not петдесет |
| 60 | шездесет | not шестдесет |
| 70 | седамдесет | keeps седам- |
| 80 | осамдесет | keeps осам- |
| 90 | деведесет | not a regular деветдесет |
Standard Serbian spelling does not mark pitch accent or vowel length. Pronounce the standard word you have learned; do not write accent marks in ordinary numbers.
To make a non-round number, place the ones unit after the tens and write the two words separately: двадесет један, тридесет четири, деведесет осам. The conjunction и can be heard in some styles and combinations, but the plain sequence without it is the safest neutral counting model.
Аутобус стиже за тридесет четири минута.
The bus arrives in thirty-four minutes.
Рачун износи деведесет осам динара.
The bill comes to ninety-eight dinars.
Hundreds
The hundred forms are also written as single words:
| Number | Serbian | Number | Serbian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | сто | 500 | петсто |
| 200 | двеста | 600 | шестсто |
| 300 | триста | 700 | седамсто |
| 400 | четиристо | 800 | осамсто |
| 900 | деветсто |
The forms двеста and триста end in -ста, while 400 ends in -сто. Шестсто contains the written cluster стст; rapid speech may simplify sounds, but the spelling remains шестсто.
Standard Serbian also has transparent noun-like alternatives: две стотине, три стотине, четири стотине and пет/шест/седам/осам/девет стотина. The compact forms in the table are especially convenient when building longer numbers, but the analytic forms are not errors.
Add tens and ones as separate words:
У музеју је јуче било триста четрдесет посетилаца.
There were 340 visitors at the museum yesterday.
Уговор има двеста једну страницу са прилозима.
The contract is 201 pages long including the attachments.
У магацин су стигла четиристо двадесет два пакета.
Four hundred twenty-two parcels arrived at the warehouse.
The feminine form једну in двеста једну страницу agrees with accusative страницу. In четиристо двадесет два пакета, final два selects the masculine count form and the past participle стигла has the paucal -а ending.
One Thousand and Thousands Inside Larger Numbers
The unit behind 1000 is the feminine noun-like numeral хиљада. As a bare cardinal and before a genitive plural noun, the usual form is хиљаду: хиљаду динара, хиљаду људи. The phrase једна хиљада treats the unit more explicitly as a feminine noun.
За депозит нам недостаје још хиљаду динара.
We are still one thousand dinars short for the deposit.
Thousands follow familiar government:
| Number | Serbian |
|---|---|
| 1.000 | хиљаду; noun-like једна хиљада |
| 2.000 | две хиљаде |
| 3.000 | три хиљаде |
| 4.000 | четири хиљаде |
| 5.000 | пет хиљада |
Although this page stops at 1000 as a basic unit, хиљада immediately becomes useful for constructing larger spoken numbers.
Мотор је продат за две хиљаде деветсто евра.
The motorcycle was sold for 2,900 euros.
The currency noun appears as genitive plural евра because the compound ends in nine hundred; the internal number still has ordinary Serbian structure.
The Final-Unit Rule
For a compound number, look at its last relevant unit. Endings 1, 2, 3, and 4 normally restore their special patterns, unless the entire final block is 11–14.
| Number | Phrase | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | двадесет једна порука | final one; feminine singular |
| 32 | тридесет две поруке | final two; feminine count pattern |
| 47 | четрдесет седам порука | final seven; genitive plural |
| 112 | сто дванаест порука | final block is twelve; genitive plural |
| 122 | сто двадесет две поруке | final block is twenty-two; count pattern |
До вечери је стигла двадесет једна порука.
Twenty-one messages arrived by evening.
До вечери су стигле сто двадесет две поруке.
One hundred twenty-two messages arrived by evening.
До вечери је стигло сто дванаест порука.
One hundred twelve messages arrived by evening.
Notice that the predicate changes along with the noun phrase: feminine singular стигла, feminine plural стигле, and neutral quantified стигло.
Prices, Ages, and Written Digits
Digits obey the same grammar as words. A shop sign may hide the endings inside 221, 222, and 225, but speech restores them.
Први део кошта двеста двадесет један динар, други двеста двадесет два динара, а трећи двеста двадесет пет динара.
The first part costs 221 dinars, the second 222, and the third 225.
Age likewise uses the form selected by the final unit:
Она има тридесет једну годину, а он тридесет четири године.
She is thirty-one, and he is thirty-four.
Because година is feminine, final један becomes accusative једну. A person aged 30 has тридесет година, with genitive plural.
Declension: Mostly Fixed, with Noun-Like and Formal Corners
Cardinals from 11 through the hundreds are normally indeclinable. A preposition can govern the relation of the whole quantity while the internal count phrase remains unchanged.
Разговарали смо о сто педесет пријава које нису биле потпуне.
We discussed 150 applications that were incomplete.
When a compound ends in 2–4, declined final forms such as двадесет двема установама occur in (formal) language, but everyday Serbian usually leaves the cardinal construction unchanged or restructures it. The simple declined forms are developed on Case After Numbers.
Because хиљада is noun-like, it can show ordinary case when treated explicitly as a noun phrase:
У извештају се говори о једној хиљади нерешених предмета.
The report discusses one thousand unresolved cases. (formal)
This does not make every larger numeral declinable. It is a property of the noun-like unit хиљада.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Build the Number
Write out 648 and attach “new request” in the correct form.
Шестсто четрдесет осам нових захтева.
Six hundred forty-eight new requests. Answer: 600 + 40 + 8, followed by genitive plural.
Task 2: Apply the 11–14 Exception
Contrast 314 and 324 applications.
Триста четрнаест пријава; триста двадесет четири пријаве.
314 applications; 324 applications. Answer: fourteen takes genitive plural, while twenty-four takes the feminine count form.
Common Mistakes
Building tens mechanically
❌ Имам четиридесет минута до следећег састанка.
Incorrect—the standard word for forty is четрдесет.
✅ Имам четрдесет минута до следећег састанка.
I have forty minutes until the next meeting.
Using двесто instead of двеста
❌ У сали има двесто седишта.
Incorrect—the standard Serbian cardinal is двеста, not двесто.
✅ У сали има двеста седишта.
There are two hundred seats in the hall.
Applying only the final digit to 11–14
❌ На списку су сто дванаест пријаве.
Incorrect—the final block is twelve, so the phrase requires genitive plural пријава and a neutral singular predicate.
✅ На списку је сто дванаест пријава.
There are 112 applications on the list.
Using an ordinary plural after a compound ending in 2–4
❌ Стигли су деветсто двадесет два пакети.
Incorrect—922 ends in two, so use the count phrase пакета and paucal predicate стигла.
✅ Стигла су деветсто двадесет два пакета.
Nine hundred twenty-two parcels arrived.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize the fixed teen, tens, and hundreds forms, especially четрдесет, педесет, шездесет, двеста, триста, четиристо.
- Compound cardinals are written as separate word blocks: шестсто четрдесет осам.
- The final relevant unit controls the noun, but endings 11–14 always select genitive plural.
- Written digits do not change noun or predicate agreement.
- Most cardinals in this range are indeclinable; хиљада remains noun-like, while declined compound 2–4 forms are chiefly (formal).
Related Topics
- Cardinal Numbers 0-10A1 — The basic counting numbers and which decline.
- Reading Numbers, Years, and Prices AloudA2 — How to say large numbers, years, and amounts.
- Numeral Government: 1 / 2-4 / 5+A2 — The master rule for which case a counted noun takes.
- The Paucal (2-4) in DetailB1 — The dual-relic form after dva, tri, četiri.
- Case After Numbers and QuantifiersB1 — How 1, 2-4, and 5+ each impose a different case on the noun.
- Ordinal NumbersA1 — First, second, third — and the period that writes them.