Numbers behave differently when they count money, locate an event in time, identify a telephone line, or state someone's age. Money and age contain genuinely counted nouns and therefore obey Serbian numeral government. Telephone numbers are identifiers, while clock expressions combine counting with several fixed conventions. The practical skill is recognizing which system you are in before choosing a form.
Money: dinar, dinara, dinara
The Serbian currency noun follows the familiar 1 / 2–4 / 5+ pattern:
| Amount | Phrase | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | један динар | singular |
| 2–4 | два / три / четири динара | paucal |
| 5+ | пет / десет / сто динара | genitive plural |
The paucal and genitive plural happen to look identical with динар, so compound amounts make the underlying rule easier to hear through agreement: сто један динар, сто два динара, сто пет динара.
Кафа кошта сто осамдесет динара, а чај двеста један динар.
The coffee costs 180 dinars, and the tea costs 201 dinars.
Имам само двеста три динара, па ми недостаје још педесет динара.
I only have 203 dinars, so I'm still short by 50 dinars.
The smaller currency unit пара shows the difference visibly: једна пара, две паре, пет пара.
На рачуну је остала једна пара, а у каси недостају две паре.
There is one para left in the account, and the till is short by two para.
In Serbian numeric formatting, the decimal separator is a comma. Thousands may be grouped with a point or a space: 1.250,50 or 1 250,50. English-style 1,250.50 reverses those signs and can be misread.
Износ 1.250,50 динара чита се „хиљаду двеста педесет динара и педесет пара“.
The amount 1,250.50 dinars is read ‘one thousand two hundred fifty dinars and fifty para.’
Currency codes and symbols do not decline: 1.250 RSD. When the noun is written out, it does: 1.250 динара. See shopping and money for payment phrases.
Asking and telling the time
The standard question is Колико је сати? Full-hour answers reuse numeral government and predicate agreement.
— Колико је сати? — Један је сат.
— What time is it? — It's one o'clock.
— Колико је сати? — Три су сата.
— What time is it? — It's three o'clock.
— Колико је сати? — Пет је сати.
— What time is it? — It's five o'clock.
At a specified time, use у plus the time expression: у један сат, у два сата, у пет сати. The fixed question is У колико сати?
Представа почиње у осам сати, али се налазимо испред позоришта у пола осам.
The performance starts at eight, but we're meeting outside the theater at half past seven.
Пола осам points forward to the next full hour: it is halfway to eight, so it means 7:30. That differs from English expressions in which half eight may be understood as half past eight.
Minutes can be added with и, or counted back from the next hour with до.
Воз полази у шест и двадесет, а укрцавање се завршава десет до шест.
The train leaves at 6:20, and boarding ends at ten to six.
In formal Serbian prose and timetables, a point conventionally separates hours and minutes: 8.05, 14.30. Colons are widespread on international digital interfaces and devices (technical display convention), but use the point when following Serbian orthographic style. A formal 24-hour time can be read четрнаест часова и тридесет минута; in conversation, 14.30 is naturally пола три when the part of day is clear.
На карти пише „14.30“, а службеник каже „четрнаест часова и тридесет минута“.
The ticket says ‘14:30,’ and the clerk says ‘fourteen hours and thirty minutes.’
Telephone numbers are identifiers
A telephone number does not count a following noun, so the 1 / 2–4 / 5+ rule does not apply inside it. Preserve every digit, especially an initial zero. Speakers may group digits into twos or threes, but reading digit by digit is the safest way to confirm a number.
Мој број је 064 123 45 67; поновићу полако: „нула шест четири, један два три, четири пет, шест седам“.
My number is 064 123 45 67; I'll repeat it slowly: ‘zero six four, one two three, four five, six seven.’
— Да ли је последња група 67 или 76? — Шест седам: 67.
— Is the final group 67 or 76? — Six seven: 67.
In running speech, familiar groups may be read as whole numbers, but a confirmation should remove ambiguity by returning to individual digits. With an international prefix, read + as плус and do not silently restore or delete digits; follow the number as written.
Age uses imati, not biti
Serbian expresses age with имати “have,” not the English pattern be + age. The counted noun година follows the three-way rule.
| Age | Serbian phrase |
|---|---|
| 21 | двадесет једну годину |
| 22 | двадесет две године |
| 25 | двадесет пет година |
| 31 | тридесет једну годину |
| 34 | тридесет четири године |
Једну is feminine accusative because имати takes a direct object and година is feminine. The phrases after 2–4 and 5+ retain their numerical shapes.
Имам тридесет једну годину, а моја сестра има двадесет осам година.
I'm thirty-one, and my sister is twenty-eight.
Колико година има ваш син? — Има четири године и у септембру пуни пет.
How old is your son? — He's four, and he turns five in September.
Пунити plus a cardinal is the normal expression for turning an age. A birthday as an ordered event takes an ordinal: пети рођендан, двадесет први рођендан.
Она 12. октобра пуни двадесет једну годину и слави двадесет први рођендан.
She turns twenty-one on October 12 and celebrates her twenty-first birthday.
The date uses an ordinal digit with a period; the age uses a cardinal; the birthday uses an agreeing ordinal. Review ordinal numbers for this distinction.
A compact everyday dialogue
— Колико коштају две карте за пројекцију у 18.30? — Хиљаду двеста динара. Оставите број телефона и дођите у пола седам.
— How much are two tickets for the 6:30 screening? — Twelve hundred dinars. Leave a phone number and come at half past six.
Две карте is a feminine paucal phrase, хиљаду двеста динара has 5+ government, 18.30 is a clock identifier, and пола седам means 6:30. One conversation activates four different numerical conventions.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Say three ages
State that three people are 21, 23, and 27 years old.
Ана има двадесет једну годину, Марко двадесет три године, а Јелена двадесет седам година.
Ana is twenty-one, Marko is twenty-three, and Jelena is twenty-seven.
Task 2: Read a price and time aloud
Read 2.304,50 динара and say that payment is due at 14.30.
Износ је две хиљаде триста четири динара и педесет пара, а рок за плаћање је у четрнаест часова и тридесет минута.
The amount is 2,304 dinars and 50 para, and payment is due at 14:30.
Common Mistakes
Copying English decimal and thousands separators
❌ Рачун износи 1,250.50 динара.
Incorrect in Serbian numeric formatting—the decimal separator is a comma, with a point or space for thousands.
✅ Рачун износи 1.250,50 динара.
The bill comes to 1,250.50 dinars.
Using the wrong noun form after 22
❌ Улаз кошта двадесет два динари.
Incorrect—22 ends in два and requires paucal динара.
✅ Улаз кошта двадесет два динара.
Admission costs twenty-two dinars.
Misreading pola tri
❌ Видимо се у пола три, односно у 3.30.
Incorrect—пола три means halfway to three, so it is 2:30.
✅ Видимо се у пола три, односно у 2.30.
We'll meet at half past two, that is, at 2:30.
Dropping the initial zero while dictating a phone number
❌ Број 064 почиње са „шест четири“.
Incorrect—the identifier begins with zero, which must be spoken: нула шест четири.
✅ Број 064 почиње са „нула шест четири“.
The number 064 begins ‘zero six four.’
Translating English be + age
❌ Ја сам двадесет пет година.
Incorrect—Serbian expresses age with имати, not бити.
✅ Имам двадесет пет година.
I'm twenty-five years old.
Key Takeaways
- Prices obey numeral government; Serbian numeric formatting uses a decimal comma.
- Full hours use један је сат, три су сата, пет је сати; пола осам means 7:30.
- Formal Serbian time notation uses a point, while digital interfaces often use a colon.
- Telephone numbers are identifiers: preserve and confirm every digit.
- Age uses имати plus годину/године/година; birthdays use ordinal numbers.
Now practice Serbian
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Numeral Government: 1 / 2-4 / 5+A2 — The master rule for which case a counted noun takes.
- Reading Numbers, Years, and Prices AloudA2 — How to say large numbers, years, and amounts.
- Ordinal NumbersA1 — First, second, third — and the period that writes them.
- Shopping and MoneyA2 — Prices, paying, and shopping phrases.
- Telling Time and DatesA2 — Asking and saying the time, days, and dates.
- Everyday Number PhrasesA1 — Counting, ages, phone numbers, and quantities in speech.