Log inSign up

Dialogue: At the Post Office

A post-office exchange makes case relationships visible. A parcel goes у Шведску (destination, accusative), contains две књиге (the two-to-four form), weighs један килограм и триста грама, and travels са праћењем (instrumental after са). The dialogue also shows how forms and service options are discussed without repeating the word пошиљка in every turn.

Text status: This is an original instructional dialogue in contemporary standard Serbian. Service names and requirements vary by operator and destination; the exchange teaches language, not current postal rules or prices.

The complete dialogue

Службеник:

Добар дан, изволите.

Good afternoon. How can I help you?

Корисница:

Добар дан. Желела бих да пошаљем овај пакет у Шведску.

Good afternoon. I'd like to send this parcel to Sweden.

Службеник:

У реду. Да ли у пакету има нечег ломљивог или течног?

All right. Is there anything fragile or liquid in the parcel?

Корисница:

Нема, унутра су само две књиге, шал и неколико фотографија.

No. There are only two books, a scarf, and a few photographs inside.

Службеник:

Пошиљка има један килограм и триста грама. Желите ли стандардну услугу са праћењем или експресну доставу?

The item weighs one kilogram and three hundred grams. Would you like standard service with tracking or express delivery?

Корисница:

Стандардну са праћењем, молим Вас. Колико обично траје достава?

Standard with tracking, please. How long does delivery usually take?

Службеник:

Рок зависи од одредишта. На потврди ћете добити број за праћење.

The delivery time depends on the destination. You'll receive a tracking number on the receipt.

Корисница:

Добро. Који образац треба да попуним?

All right. Which form do I need to fill in?

Службеник:

Попуните ову адресницу. Овде упишите име и адресу примаоца, а испод свој број телефона.

Fill in this address form. Write the recipient's name and address here, and your phone number below.

Корисница:

Да ли треба да наведем и садржај пакета?

Do I also need to state the contents of the parcel?

Службеник:

Да, наведите га у овом пољу, па потпишите образац на дну стране.

Yes, state it in this field, then sign the form at the bottom of the page.

Корисница:

Завршила сам. Где плаћам поштарину?

I'm done. Where do I pay the postage?

Службеник:

Овде, на шалтеру. Сачувајте потврду док пошиљка не стигне.

Here at the counter. Keep the receipt until the item arrives.

The English translation renders пошиљка има један килограм as “the item weighs one kilogram.” Serbian service speech often uses имати + measure in this meaning. In стандардну са праћењем, the feminine noun услугу is omitted but its accusative ending remains visible on стандардну.

Line-by-line annotation

LineGrammarService function
1Polite imperative изволите invites the customer to present the transaction.The open prompt avoids guessing whether the person is sending, collecting, or paying.
2Feminine conditional желела бих softens the request. Destination у Шведску takes accusative because the parcel is directed toward the country.The object and destination are given immediately.
3Static container у пакету takes locative. In an existential question, genitive indefinite нечег is modified by genitive ломљивог или течног.The clerk asks about content categories relevant to handling.
4Negative existential нема answers the whole question. After две, feminine noun књиге uses the two-to-four form; неколико governs genitive plural фотографија.The customer corrects no presupposition and gives a concise inventory.
5Measure phrases are један килограм and триста грама. Accusative alternatives стандардну услугу / експресну доставу are objects of желите; са праћењем is instrumental.The weight is established before the customer chooses a service.
6Standalone feminine accusative стандардну resumes услугу. Interrogative колико asks duration with singular траје, whose subject is достава.The customer selects one option, then asks for a general estimate rather than assuming a guarantee.
7Зависити од governs genitive одредишта. На потврди is locative; број за праћење uses за + accusative to state purpose.The clerk points to the future source of tracking information.
8Accusative који образац is the object of попуним. Impersonal modal треба да does not require a nominative “I”; person appears on попуним.The customer requests the next procedural step.
9Polite imperatives попуните, упишите govern accusative objects. Genitive примаоца expresses the person whose name and address are entered.Location adverbs овде, испод coordinate spoken instructions with the visible form.
10–11Садржај is masculine accusative and is resumed by га. У овом пољу is locative; на дну стране contains locative дну plus genitive стране.The clerk confirms the required field and sequences writing before signing with па.
12–13Feminine perfect завршила agrees with the customer. Док ... не стигне uses required negation in the “until” clause; it does not mean the parcel fails to arrive.The receipt is retained through the relevant period, and the transaction closes.

Destination and location use different cases

The country is a destination after a motion verb, so у takes accusative. Location inside a country or building uses locative.

Писмо шаљем у Данску, а прималац живи у Копенхагену.

I'm sending the letter to Denmark, and the recipient lives in Copenhagen.

Пакет је стигао из Норвешке у Србију преко Данске.

The parcel arrived in Serbia from Norway via Denmark.

Из Норвешке is genitive source; у Србију is accusative destination; преко Данске is genitive route. English to, in, from, and via do not predict Serbian endings by themselves—the spatial relation and preposition do.

The broader system is covered in motion prepositions.

💡
Pair country names with a motion contrast: шаљем у Шведску but пошиљка је у Шведској. Learning both prevents the frequent nominative calque у Шведска.

Weight and contents trigger numeral government

The scale reading combines units with different numeral patterns:

NumberPhraseForm
1један килограмnominative singular
2две књигеfeminine two-to-four form
300триста грамаgenitive plural governed by триста; for грам, it is syncretic with the genitive singular form
severalнеколико фотографијаgenitive plural

Коверта је тешка двадесет пет грама, а пакет два килограма и сто грама.

The envelope weighs twenty-five grams, and the parcel weighs two kilograms and one hundred grams.

Adjective тешка agrees with feminine коверта. The service expression има X грама avoids choosing an agreeing adjective and is especially common when reading the scale.

Forms use procedural imperatives

Perfective попуните, упишите, наведите, потпишите treats each instruction as a completed step. The form itself often licenses omission: овде means “in this visible field,” not a vague location.

На предњој страни напишите адресу примаоца, а на полеђини адресу пошиљаоца.

Write the recipient's address on the front and the sender's address on the back.

Genitives примаоца and пошиљаоца identify whose addresses they are. These animate masculine forms coincide with accusative, but here their function is possessive after адреса.

Choosing a service and recovering ellipsis

The clerk offers two full feminine objects; the customer replies with only the agreeing adjective стандардну. A masculine service noun would require стандардни, and a neuter noun стандардно. Ellipsis retains the morphology of the missing noun.

— Желите ли обичну или приоритетну пошиљку? — Приоритетну, али без додатног осигурања.

— Would you like ordinary or priority mail? — Priority, but without additional insurance.

Без governs genitive додатног осигурања. The service names are illustrative; ask the operator which options actually exist for the destination.

Register and cultural pragmatics

The exchange is neutral formal/service language. The customer uses a conditional request, but once the task is established, short replies are efficient and courteous. Стандардну са праћењем, молим Вас is not a sentence fragment in interaction; the offered alternatives supply its missing verb and noun.

Do not imitate bureaucratic language when plain verbs work. Где плаћам поштарину? is clearer than an inflated nominal request. Conversely, a destination or recipient name should be repeated or written when accuracy matters, even if repetition feels redundant.

Reuse the passage

Task 1: Change the destination and source

Send a letter from Serbia to Italy. Use из + genitive, у + accusative, and one static у + locative sentence about the recipient.

Task 2: Change the contents and weight

Make the parcel contain one sweater, three notebooks, and five photographs, and weigh two kilograms and fifty grams. Apply the correct numeral forms.

Task 3: Follow the form

Give four polite instructions using попунити, уписати, навести, and потписати, with a location phrase for each field.

Common Mistakes

Leaving the destination in nominative

❌ Желим да пошаљем разгледницу у Грчка.

Incorrect—motion toward a country after у requires accusative Грчку.

✅ Желим да пошаљем ову разгледницу у Грчку.

I'd like to send this postcard to Greece.

Using the wrong form after неколико

❌ У пакету је неколико фотографије.

Incorrect—неколико governs genitive plural фотографија.

✅ У коверти је неколико породичних фотографија.

There are several family photographs in the envelope.

Losing the instrumental after са

❌ Желим услугу са праћење.

Incorrect—са requires instrumental праћењем.

✅ Желим стандардну услугу са праћењем пошиљке.

I'd like standard service with shipment tracking.

Misreading док ... не

❌ Бацићу потврду док пошиљка не стигне.

Wrong intended meaning—this says the receipt will be discarded during the period before arrival.

✅ Сачуваћу потврду док пошиљка не стигне на одредиште.

I'll keep the receipt until the item reaches its destination.

Key Takeaways

  • Direction takes у + accusative; static location takes у + locative; source takes из + genitive.
  • Weight, contents, and quantities require numeral-governed noun forms.
  • An agreeing adjective can stand for an offered service: стандардну [услугу].
  • Procedural imperatives and visible location words make form-filling instructions concise and natural.

Now practice Serbian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Serbian →

Related Topics