Da li primate kartice, ili samo gotovinu?

Da li is a very common way to form a yes/no question in Serbian.

So:

• Primate kartice. = You accept cards.
• Da li primate kartice? = Do you accept cards?

It does not translate word-for-word into English very neatly; it mainly signals this is a question.

In everyday speech, people also often ask the same thing just with intonation:

• Primate kartice?

That is more conversational, while da li sounds fully standard and clear.

Primate is the 2nd person plural form of primati.

In Serbian, the plural forms are also used for formal singular address, like French vous or German Sie.

So when speaking politely to a cashier, waiter, or shop employee, you usually say:

• Vi primate = you accept (formal / plural)

If you were talking to one friend informally, you would say:

• primaš = you accept (informal singular)

So:

• Da li primaš kartice? = to one friend, informal
• Da li primate kartice? = to staff / strangers / more than one person

The verb primati literally means to receive, to take in, or to accept.

In this context, it is used idiomatically for businesses accepting forms of payment:

• primati kartice = to accept cards
• primati gotovinu = to accept cash

A very close English equivalent is take in sentences like Do you take cards?

Because Serbian naturally uses the plural here when talking about card payments in general.

• kartica = card
• kartice = cards

So Da li primate kartice? means Do you accept cards?

This is more natural than singular if you mean payment methods generally.

If you said karticu (singular), it would sound more like:

• Do you accept a card?
• or possibly this card? depending on context

So the plural is the normal choice in this kind of question.

Because gotovinu is the accusative singular form of gotovina.

The sentence asks about what the business accepts, so the noun is the direct object of the verb primate:

• gotovina = nominative
• gotovinu = accusative

Compare:

• Ovo je gotovina. = This is cash.
• Primate gotovinu. = You accept cash.

So samo gotovinu means only cash.

Because they belong to different noun patterns.

• kartice is plural, and for this noun the accusative plural is the same as the nominative plural
• gotovina is feminine singular, and feminine nouns ending in -a usually change to -u in the accusative singular

So:

• kartice → nominative plural / accusative plural
• gotovina → nominative singular
• gotovinu → accusative singular

This is very normal in Serbian grammar.

Yes. In everyday Serbian, kartice in this context usually means payment cards in general:

• credit cards
• debit cards
• bank cards

You do not need to specify the exact kind unless it matters.

If needed, people may also say:

• platne kartice = payment cards
• kreditne kartice = credit cards

But kartice alone is completely natural in a shop or restaurant.

Historically, it may look diminutive, but in modern everyday usage kartica is simply the normal word for card in many contexts.

So learners should usually just treat:

• kartica = card

without worrying that it means little card.

For example:

• lična karta = ID card
• bankovna kartica = bank card
• SIM kartica = SIM card

Ili means or, and samo gotovinu means only cash.

So the second part gives the alternative:

• Do you accept cards, or only cash?

Breaking it down:

• ili = or
• samo = only
• gotovinu = cash (accusative)

This is a very natural way to ask whether card payment is possible or whether cash is the only option.

Yes, but it means something a little different.

• Da li primate kartice, ili samo gotovinu?
  = Do you accept cards, or only cash?

• Da li primate kartice ili gotovinu?
  = more like Do you accept cards or cash?

The version with samo is more specific, because it suggests the real question is whether cards are accepted at all, or whether the place is cash-only.

Yes, it is polite, standard, and very natural.

Using primate with the formal/plural you makes it appropriate for:

• shops
• cafés
• restaurants
• kiosks
• service counters

It sounds normal and respectful without being overly formal.

Yes. That is very common in speech.

Both are natural:

• Da li primate kartice, ili samo gotovinu?
• Primate kartice, ili samo gotovinu?

The version with da li is a bit more explicitly grammatical and slightly more careful.
The version without it is shorter and often what people actually say in fast everyday conversation.

Yes, several.

For example:

• Primate kartice? = Do you take cards?
• Može kartica? = Can I pay by card?
• Da li može karticom? = Can I pay with a card?
• Jel primate kartice? = very common colloquial speech

The original sentence is especially useful because it is clear, polite, and works almost everywhere.

You can, and Serbian often does that too, but the focus changes slightly.

Your sentence focuses on what the business accepts:

• Da li primate kartice? = Do you accept cards?

A payment-focused version asks whether paying by card is possible:

• Da li može karticom? = Can I pay by card?
• Mogu li da platim karticom? = Can I pay by card?

Both are natural.
The original sentence is about the shop’s policy; the others are about your payment action.

In everyday writing, many people would simply write:

• Da li primate kartice ili samo gotovinu?

The comma is not the main thing learners need to focus on here. What matters most is the structure and vocabulary.

So if you leave the comma out, your sentence will still look natural to most readers.

A rough English-style guide would be:

dah lee PREE-mah-teh KAR-tee-tseh, EE-lee SAH-moh goh-toh-VEE-noo?

Very roughly:

• Da li = dah lee
• primate = pree-mah-teh
• kartice = kar-tee-tseh
• ili = ee-lee
• samo = sah-moh
• gotovinu = goh-toh-vee-noo

This is only an approximation, but it helps with first attempts.

You would normally switch to the informal singular:

• Da li primaš kartice, ili samo gotovinu?

That means Do you accept cards, or only cash? when speaking to one person informally.

But in real life, this question is most often asked to staff or strangers, so primate is the form you will probably need more often.