At a pharmacy, the important grammar is tied to safe information exchange: describe the symptom and its duration, answer follow-up questions, identify a quantity, and understand instructions without confusing a recommendation with an obligation. This original dialogue models those language choices; it does not replace advice from a qualified health professional or the instructions supplied with a medicine.
Text status: The exchange is original and uses contemporary standard Serbian. The pharmacist and customer consistently use polite singular Ви.
The complete dialogue
Фармацеуткиња:
Добар дан, изволите. Како могу да Вам помогнем?
Good afternoon. How can I help you?
Купац:
Добар дан. Већ четири дана имам сув кашаљ, нарочито ноћу.
Good afternoon. I've had a dry cough for four days, especially at night.
Фармацеуткиња:
Да ли имате температуру или отежано дишете?
Do you have a fever, or are you having difficulty breathing?
Купац:
Немам температуру и нормално дишем, али ме од кашља боли грло.
I don't have a fever and I'm breathing normally, but the coughing has made my throat sore.
Фармацеуткиња:
Да ли узимате неке лекове и да ли сте на нешто алергични?
Are you taking any medicines, and are you allergic to anything?
Купац:
Не узимам ништа и немам познатих алергија.
I'm not taking anything and I don't have any known allergies.
Фармацеуткиња:
У упутству за овај сируп пише: узимајте по једну мерну кашичицу после јела, највише три пута дневно.
The instructions for this syrup say: take one measuring spoonful after meals, no more than three times a day.
Купац:
Колико милилитара има једна бочица?
How many milliliters are in one bottle?
Фармацеуткиња:
Има сто милилитара. Пре употребе промућкајте бочицу и прочитајте цело упутство.
It contains one hundred milliliters. Shake the bottle before use and read the entire leaflet.
Купац:
Да ли морам да га држим у фрижидеру?
Do I have to keep it in the refrigerator?
Фармацеуткиња:
Не. Чувајте га онако како је наведено на паковању. Ако се кашаљ погорша или не престане, јавите се лекару.
No. Store it as indicated on the packaging. If the cough gets worse or doesn't stop, contact a doctor.
The English translation restores several omitted nouns. Немам температуру is naturally “I don't have a fever,” while има сто милилитара means that the already mentioned bottle contains that amount. Serbian does not need an English-style subject pronoun for either reply.
Line-by-line annotation
| Line | Grammar | Interactional role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polite изволите invites the customer to state a need. Dative Вам marks the beneficiary of помогнем. | The opening is professional and open-ended rather than assuming a product. |
| 2 | Present имам plus већ четири дана describes a symptom continuing now. Accusative сув кашаљ follows имати. | Duration and time pattern are supplied before a request for medicine. |
| 3 | Polite/plural имате, дишете keeps formal address consistent. Отежано is an adverb modifying дишете. | The pharmacist screens for information that can change the appropriate next step. |
| 4 | Negative немам and present дишем answer the two questions. In ме боли грло, accusative ме is the experiencer and nominative грло controls боли. | Од кашља presents the cough as the source of irritation. |
| 5 | Да ли сте ... алергични uses plural adjective agreement with polite Ви. На нешто is the governed prepositional complement. | Medication and allergy questions are asked before instructions are discussed. |
| 6 | Serbian negative concord requires не ... ништа. Genitive plural познатих алергија is natural here with existential/partitive scope: “no known allergies”; negation alone does not make every direct object genitive. | The customer limits the claim to known allergies rather than claiming certainty beyond their knowledge. |
| 7 | По + accusative distributes one measure per occasion: по једну кашичицу. После јела is genitive after после; polite imperative узимајте states the printed instruction. | The pharmacist attributes the dosage to the leaflet: у упутству пише. |
| 8 | Колико governs genitive plural милилитара. Nominative једна бочица is the container whose capacity is asked about. | The customer checks package quantity, not dose. |
| 9 | Сто милилитара uses genitive plural. Пре употребе has genitive after пре; промућкајте, прочитајте are polite perfective imperatives. | The perfective commands aim at two completed preparatory acts. |
| 10 | Морати да + present gives морам да га држим. Accusative clitic га resumes masculine сируп. | The customer checks whether storage is obligatory rather than guessing. |
| 11 | Како је наведено is an impersonal passive comparison. Present after ако gives future-relevant погорша, не престане; јавити се takes dative лекару. | The closing redirects worsening or persistent symptoms to a doctor without diagnosing them. |
Describing a current symptom and its duration
English often uses the present perfect—I have had a cough for four days. Serbian normally uses the present when the symptom still holds: већ четири дана имам..., кашљем од понедељка. A perfect form instead presents an event or change.
Од викенда кашљем, а синоћ ми се кашаљ појачао.
I've been coughing since the weekend, and last night the cough became worse.
Present кашљем spans the continuing period; perfective perfect се појачао marks a bounded change. Give both duration and change when both matter.
Body-part pain follows its own frame:
После сваког напада кашља ме заболе груди.
After every coughing fit, my chest starts to hurt.
Plural body parts require plural боле; singular грло in the dialogue requires боли. The health vocabulary guide develops related symptom frames.
Dosage language is a quantity system
The phrase по једну мерну кашичицу combines distribution and measure. По here means one amount on each occasion. The substance can be expressed with genitive:
Узмите једну таблету са чашом воде, у складу са упутством.
Take one tablet with a glass of water, in accordance with the instructions. (polite singular or plural)
Чаша воде means a glassful of water: genitive воде names what fills the measure. Container size also uses a quantity phrase:
Паковање садржи двадесет таблета и бочицу од педесет милилитара.
The package contains twenty tablets and a fifty-milliliter bottle.
After двадесет, таблета is genitive plural; after педесет, милилитара is genitive plural. Бочица од... describes capacity or specification, not origin.
Imperative, recommendation, and obligation
The polite imperative is normal for concise instructions: промућкајте, прочитајте, чувајте. Aspect matters. Perfective прочитајте asks for a completed reading; imperfective чувајте describes an ongoing storage practice.
Морати asks about necessity, while треба can present advice or requirement depending on context:
Да ли овај препарат треба да се узима уз оброк?
Should this product be taken with a meal?
Морате да се придржавате дозе наведене у упутству.
You must follow the dosage stated in the instructions. (formal address)
The source of authority matters. У упутству пише, фармацеут је рекао, and лекар је препоручио identify whether wording comes from the leaflet, pharmacist, or doctor instead of presenting every sentence as universal advice.
Register and cultural pragmatics
This is neutral formal/service speech. Capitalized Вам addresses one customer respectfully; lowercase is common in ordinary written exchanges. The pharmacist asks direct health questions because they are relevant to the request. The customer answers only what is known and does not imitate technical diagnostic language.
Дајте ми нешто за кашаљ is understandable, but stating duration and related symptoms first gives the professional more useful information. If communication is difficult, show the package, written medicine name, or official instructions rather than guessing at a similar-sounding word.
Reuse the passage
Task 1: Change the symptom history
Replace the cough with a headache that began yesterday. Include one current symptom, one negative answer, and one bounded change in the perfect.
Task 2: Rebuild the quantity instructions
Change the package to twenty tablets and the instruction to one tablet twice daily. Preserve the correct numeral forms and distinguish package quantity from dose.
Task 3: Change the level of address
Imagine a parent is reminding an older child. Convert узимајте, промућкајте, прочитајте, чувајте to familiar singular while leaving quantity phrases unchanged.
Common Mistakes
Copying the English present perfect
❌ Имао сам сув кашаљ за четири дана.
Incorrect for a symptom still present—the perfect presents a past state, and за does not mark elapsed duration here.
✅ Већ четири дана имам сув кашаљ који се ноћу појачава.
I've had a dry cough for four days, and it gets worse at night.
Using nominative after колико
❌ Колико милилитри има ова бочица?
Incorrect—колико requires genitive plural милилитара.
✅ Колико милилитара сирупа има у овој бочици?
How many milliliters of syrup are in this bottle?
Losing negative concord
❌ Не узимам нешто од лекова.
Incorrect for 'I don't take anything'—Serbian requires a negative pronoun with the negated verb.
✅ Тренутно не узимам ништа од лекова.
I'm not taking any medication at the moment.
Mixing polite and familiar imperatives
❌ Промућкајте бочицу и прочитај упутство.
Incorrect in one formal exchange—the first imperative is polite/plural and the second familiar singular.
✅ Промућкајте бочицу и пажљиво прочитајте упутство.
Shake the bottle and read the instructions carefully. (polite/plural)
Key Takeaways
- A continuing symptom normally uses present with већ + duration or од + starting point.
- Dosage language distinguishes amount, distribution, frequency, and package quantity.
- Imperative aspect separates completed steps from continuing practices.
- Attribute instructions to their source, and use морати/требати according to whether the meaning is obligation or advice.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Health and the BodyA2 — Body parts, symptoms, and the doctor.
- boleti (to hurt)B1 — The pain verb with accusative experiencer.
- Using the Imperative PolitelyB1 — Softening commands and the ti/Vi distinction in requests.
- Obligation: morati, trebati, valjaA2 — Expressing 'must', 'should', and 'need to'.
- Partitive Genitive and QuantityA2 — The genitive of 'some', amounts, and measure words.
- ti vs Vi: Formal and Informal YouA1 — Choosing the right address pronoun and verb form.