A rental inquiry moves between three kinds of information: what the apartment is like, what the advertisement or owner says is required, and what the prospective tenant wants to verify. Serbian marks those layers with measurement phrases, се-passives such as стан се издаје, reported clauses after пише/навео је, and conditional requests that remain precise without sounding abrupt.
Text status: This is an original instructional dialogue between a prospective tenant and an agent. It models language, not legal advice; rental law, fees, and contractual requirements must be checked for the actual property and jurisdiction.
The complete dialogue
Заинтересована станарка:
Добар дан. Зовем поводом огласа за двособан стан у центру. Да ли је још доступан?
Good afternoon. I'm calling about the advertisement for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center. Is it still available?
Посредница:
Јесте. Стан има педесет четири квадратна метра и балкон од шест квадратних метара.
It is. The apartment is fifty-four square meters and has a six-square-meter balcony.
Заинтересована станарка:
На ком је спрату и има ли зграда лифт?
What floor is it on, and does the building have an elevator?
Посредница:
На трећем је спрату, а зграда има лифт. Стан се издаје намештен.
It's on the third floor, and the building has an elevator. The apartment is rented furnished.
Заинтересована станарка:
Да ли бисте могли да ми кажете шта је укључено у месечну кирију?
Could you tell me what is included in the monthly rent?
Посредница:
Укључено је коришћење оставе у подруму, а рачуни за струју, воду и грејање плаћају се посебно.
Use of the basement storage room is included, while the electricity, water, and heating bills are paid separately.
Заинтересована станарка:
У огласу пише да се тражи депозит. У ком износу?
The advertisement says that a deposit is required. How much is it?
Посредница:
Власник је навео да је депозит у висини једне месечне кирије и да се уговор склапа на најмање годину дана.
The owner stated that the deposit is equal to one month's rent and that the contract is concluded for at least one year.
Заинтересована станарка:
Да ли су кућни љубимци дозвољени? Имам једну мирну мачку.
Are pets allowed? I have one quiet cat.
Посредница:
Према условима које сам добила од власника, једна мачка није проблем.
According to the conditions I received from the owner, one cat is not a problem.
Заинтересована станарка:
Било би ми важно да видим стан после шест. Да ли бисмо могли да закажемо разгледање за сутра увече?
It would be important for me to see the apartment after six. Could we schedule a viewing for tomorrow evening?
Посредница:
Могла бих сутра у пола седам. Ако Вам одговара, послаћу Вам адресу и име власника поруком.
I could do half past six tomorrow. If that works for you, I'll send you the address and the owner's name by text message.
Заинтересована станарка:
Одговара ми. Само да потврдим: разгледање је сутра у пола седам?
That works for me. Just to confirm: the viewing is tomorrow at 6:30?
Serbian real-estate terminology does not divide rooms exactly like English listings. In common Serbian usage, двособан стан normally has two principal rooms, often a living room and one bedroom, so idiomatic English may call it a “one-bedroom apartment.” Always inspect the actual description rather than translating the label mechanically.
Line-by-line annotation
| Line | Grammar | Negotiation work |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Поводом governs genitive огласа; за + accusative identifies what the advertisement offers. Omitted subject of је доступан is masculine стан. | The caller identifies the exact listing and first checks whether further questions are still relevant. |
| 2 | After compound 54, квадратна метра follows the two-to-four pattern. Балкон од шест квадратних метара uses од + genitive for a measurement specification. | Total area and balcony area are kept distinct. |
| 3 | На ком ... спрату is locative location. In има ли зграда лифт, question particle ли follows finite има; зграда is the possessor-like subject. | The caller asks two practical building questions in one turn. |
| 4 | На трећем спрату keeps ordinal and noun in locative. Стан се издаје is a се-passive; result/state adjective намештен agrees with стан. | The focus stays on the property's offered condition, not on who performs the renting action. |
| 5 | Formal conditional бисте могли plus dative ми softens a request for details. In the embedded question, clitic је follows interrogative шта. | Politeness does not blur the exact question: what the monthly amount covers. |
| 6 | Neuter participle укључено anticipates neuter verbal noun коришћење. Plural рачуни ... плаћају се is another се-passive. | The response separates one included benefit from separately paid bills. |
| 7 | У огласу is locative source-of-information. Impersonal passive се тражи reports a requirement without yet attributing it to a speaker. У ком износу? recovers “is the deposit.” | The short follow-up prevents the advertised requirement from remaining vague. |
| 8 | У висини takes genitive једне месечне кирије. Reported да-clauses coordinate two owner-stated terms. На годину дана expresses intended contractual duration. | Власник је навео identifies the information source; the agent does not present a secondhand term as her own decision. |
| 9 | Plural passive adjective дозвољени agrees with masculine plural кућни љубимци. Accusative једну мирну мачку follows имам. | The caller moves from a general policy question to her specific situation. |
| 10 | Према governs dative условима. Relative које is accusative plural because the agent received the conditions; од власника is genitive source. | The answer is explicitly limited to the conditions communicated by the owner. |
| 11 | Impersonal conditional било би ми важно takes dative experiencer ми. Inclusive conditional бисмо могли proposes a joint scheduling action. | The caller explains a constraint and makes a concrete proposal rather than demanding accommodation. |
| 12–13 | Feminine могла бих agrees with the agent. Dative Вам marks both experiencer and recipient. У пола седам means 6:30, halfway toward seven. | The caller repeats the appointment time to catch misunderstandings before the call ends. |
Measurements choose forms by the numeral
Area phrases expose two different numeral patterns:
Стан има педесет два квадратна метра, а тераса осам квадратних метара.
The apartment is fifty-two square meters, and the terrace is eight square meters.
Because 52 ends in два, use квадратна метра. After 8, use genitive plural квадратних метара. A specification with од also takes genitive:
Уз стан се издаје и остава од четири квадратна метра.
A four-square-meter storage room is also rented with the apartment.
Here 4 yields четири квадратна метра inside a genitive-governed phrase whose case forms happen to overlap with the paucal pattern. The larger numeral government system deserves separate study.
Description versus rental action
Стан је намештен describes its furnished state. Стан се издаје намештен packages the offered rental plus that condition. Изнајмити стан can describe taking or letting a property depending on context, so explicitly name the participant when ambiguity matters: власник издаје, станар изнајмљује од власника.
Стан се издаје делимично намештен, али су кухињски уређаји укључени.
The apartment is rented partly furnished, but the kitchen appliances are included.
The се-passive is common in advertisements because the property, not the owner, is the informational topic. It does not make the terms impersonal or legally automatic.
Attribute reported requirements
The dialogue distinguishes sources:
- у огласу пише да... — the advertisement says;
- власник је навео да... — the owner stated;
- према условима које сам добила... — according to the terms the agent received.
Посредник је рекао да се доказ о запослењу не тражи, али то желим да видим у нацрту уговора.
The agent said that proof of employment isn't required, but I want to see that in the draft contract.
Reported wording separates claim from verification. Serbian да does not trigger an English-style sequence-of-tenses backshift: present се не тражи can report a requirement presented as currently valid.
У поруци је наведено да закупац плаћа рачуне до десетог у месецу.
The message states that the tenant pays the bills by the tenth of the month.
This is grammatical reporting, not confirmation that the term is lawful or agreed. Read the proposed contract and seek appropriate advice when needed.
Conditional politeness stays specific
Да ли бисте могли да ми кажете...? asks the other person to supply information. Било би ми важно да... explains a constraint, while да ли бисмо могли... proposes joint action. The conditionals soften social force without weakening the content.
Да ли бисте могли да ми пошаљете нацрт уговора пре разгледања?
Could you send me the draft contract before the viewing?
Одговарало би ми да се уселим почетком следећег месеца.
It would suit me to move in at the beginning of next month.
The experiencer is dative ми in both било би ми важно and одговарало би ми.
Deposits and included costs
Депозит у висини једне месечне кирије describes an amount equal to one month's rent. Кирија is everyday-neutral; закупнина is more common in formal/legal writing. Рачуни or трошкови may refer to utilities and other expenses, but the exact contents must be enumerated.
Да ли су интернет и одржавање зграде укључени у кирију или се плаћају одвојено?
Are internet service and building maintenance included in the rent, or are they paid separately?
Masculine plural participle укључени agrees with two coordinated masculine nouns. Repeating the concrete items is safer than assuming what a broad label covers.
Register and cultural pragmatics
This is neutral formal/professional speech. Direct questions about area, bills, deposit, lease length, pets, and viewing time are appropriate because they affect the decision. Conditional wording keeps the exchange cooperative; it should not replace written confirmation of important terms.
Capital Вам marks polite singular address in this presentation. The speakers do not switch to ти merely because a viewing has been arranged.
Reuse the passage
Task 1: Change the measurements
Describe an apartment of 65 square meters with a balcony of 4 square meters and a storage room of 12 square meters. Apply each numeral pattern correctly.
Task 2: Report and verify three terms
Report one term from an advertisement, one statement from an owner, and one condition from a draft contract. Then ask for written confirmation of one of them.
Task 3: Negotiate a viewing
State one scheduling constraint with било би ми важно, request a viewing with да ли бисмо могли, and repeat the agreed time in a confirmation question.
Common Mistakes
Using the wrong measurement form
❌ Стан има педесет четири квадратних метара.
Incorrect—54 ends in four and takes квадратна метра.
✅ Стан има педесет четири квадратна метра и две спаваће собе.
The apartment is fifty-four square meters and has two bedrooms.
Using accusative for static floor location
❌ Стан је на трећи спрат.
Incorrect—static location after на requires locative на трећем спрату.
✅ Стан је на трећем спрату, а остава је у подруму.
The apartment is on the third floor, and the storage room is in the basement.
Losing dative in a polite request
❌ Да ли бисте могли да кажете мене шта је укључено?
Incorrect—the recipient of information is dative ми, not accusative мене.
✅ Да ли бисте могли да ми кажете који су трошкови укључени?
Could you tell me which costs are included?
Presenting a reported term as an agreed fact
❌ Морам да платим депозит јер је посредница то споменула.
Pragmatically unsafe—the sentence treats a mentioned term as an established obligation without identifying or checking the source.
✅ Посредница је рекла да се тражи депозит, па ћу проверити износ у нацрту уговора.
The agent said that a deposit is required, so I'll check the amount in the draft contract.
Key Takeaways
- Numeral endings control measurement forms: 54 квадратна метра, but 56 квадратних метара.
- Use се-passives to keep the apartment or term in focus, not to erase the need for verification.
- Attribute requirements to the advertisement, owner, agent, or contract.
- Conditional requests express professional politeness while keeping questions and scheduling constraints exact.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- At Home: Rooms and ObjectsA1 — Household vocabulary and location prepositions.
- Partitive Genitive and QuantityA2 — The genitive of 'some', amounts, and measure words.
- The se-Passive and Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Expressing 'one does / it is done' with se.
- Conditional I (kondicional prvi)A2 — The 'would' form: bih/bi + l-participle.
- Reported (Indirect) SpeechB1 — Reporting statements/questions with no tense backshift.
- Politeness Strategies and RequestsB1 — Softening, the conditional, and indirect requests.