How To Introduce Yourself In Serbian: #1 Useful List

Let me teach you all about introductions in this beautiful language: how to introduce yourself in Serbian, how to ask for someone’s name and how to meet others in Serbia. Also, we will talk about what to say when going apart from the person you just met and how to respond to that in the Serbian language.

 

Basic Mistakes Foreigners Make 

First of all, I would start with the way you should not introduce yourself in Serbian. Well, if you think you should talk like this: “Kako se zoveš?” (What’s your name?), “Tvoje ime je…?” (Your name is…?) “Ja se zovem…” (My name is… ), “Moje ime je …” (My name is… ) – Let me stop you right there!

You should not introduce yourself in Serbian like that! So, it would be best if you did not ask others “Kako se zoveš” (What’s your name?) since that is not a way of talking among adult people. A question: “A kako se ti zoveš?” we ask children.

In rare situations, someone will ask you: “Kako je vaše ime?” (What’s your name?) or “Vaše ime…?” (Your name…?) but only in some kind of formal situations.

There is another question that comes to my mind: “Ko ste vi?” (Who are you?) or “Vi ste…?” (You are…?) but you shouldn’t use either of them because it’s kind of rude. If you use those phrases, you are basically saying, “Who the hell are you?”. Even if it sounds a bit formal, it shows that you are not a fan of that person.

 

How To Introduce Yourself In Serbian

Now we will talk about how you should behave while meeting someone in Serbia and asking for the other person’s name like a local.

Basically, you have three situations in which Serbian meet each other:

Situation 1 

In Serbia, people usually meet each other through some other person. The introduction looks like this: they simply shake hands and say only their first names.
Ok, let’s introduce ourselves!

I will go first and say: “Stanislava”
and then you should answer with your name.
And I can add: “Drago mi je.” (Nice to meet you.)

Situation 2

The second opportunity to meet someone can be while waiting for a train or sitting next to another person in an airplane. Also, you can meet in a situation where you’re waiting in a line in a bank or waiting for your friend to come. Then it would feel natural to start small talk with a person next to you.

In that kind of situation, Serbians don’t start talking to another person by asking about their first name. They just start talking about common things like prices in the stores, how hot it is today, how slow the clerk is at the counter. Men like to talk about sports, football, and tennis in most cases. And only when a few sentences are exchanged, it is the time to get to know each other. So, one person will usually tell, “Uzgred, ja sam Stanislava!” (By the way, I’m Stanislava!) and the other will respond with his or her name.

Situation 3 

Another chance to meet someone and find out his or her name can be in the situation when the two of you already met, but you forgot. When that happens, you should say: “Izvini, znam da smo se već upoznali ai sam zaboravila tvoje ime. Možeš li da ga ponoviš?” (I’m sorry, I know we’ve met before and I forgot your name. Can you repeat it?).

 

Other Words And Phrases You Can Use To Introduce Yourself In Serbian

Introduce Yourself  In Serbian

Serbian Phrase (Cyrillic/Latin) Pronunciation English Translation 
Драго ми је! / Drago mi je!  Dra-go mi јye! Nice to meet you!
Одакле си? / Odakle si? Oda-klye si? Where are you from?
Ја сам из (САД/Србије). / Ja sam iz (SAD/Srbije). Ya sam eez sad/srb-ije I’m from (the U.S/ Serbia)
Ја сам (Американац /Србин).
Ja sam (Amerikanac / Srbian).
Ya sam ame-ree-ka-nac / sr-bin I’m (American/ Serbian)
Где живиш? / Gde živiš? Gdye zh-ee-v-eesh? Where do you live?
Живим у (САД/Србији) / Živim u (SAD/Srbiji) Zh-ee-v-eem oo (SAD/Srbiјi) I live in (the U.S/ Serbia)
Да ли ти се свиђа овде? / Da li ti se sviđa ove? Da li ti sye svee-dzha- ov-dye? Do you like it here?
Србија је прелепа земља! / Srbiaja je prelepa zemlja! Srb-iјa јye prye-lyepa zye-mlja Serbia is a beautiful country!
Чиме се бавиш? / Čime se baviš? Chee-mye sye bav-ee-sh? What do you do for a living?
Ја сам (наставник /студент/инжењер) /
Ja sam (nastavnik/student/inženjer)
Ja sam (na-stav-nik /-stoo-dye-nt/ indzh-ye-nyer) I’m a (teacher/ student/ engineer)
Да ли говориш (енглески/српски)? /
Da li govoriš (engleski/srpski)?
Da li gov-or-ee-sh (yen-glye-ski/srp-ski)? Do you speak (English/ Serbian)?
Помало / Pomalo Po-ma-lo Just a little
Свиђа ми се српски.
Sviđa mi se srpski.
Sv-ee-dzha mi sye srp-ski I like Serbian
Покушавам да научим српски. / Pokušavam da naučim srpski.  Pok-oo-sha-vam da na-oo-chim srp-ski I’m trying to learn Serbian
Тежак је језик. / Težak je jezik. Tye-zhak јye јye-zik It’s a hard language
Лак је језик. / Lak je jezik. Lak јye јye-zik It’s an easy language
О! То је добро! / O! To je dobro!  O! To јye dob-ro! Oh! That’s good!
Да ли могу да вежбам са тобом? / Da li mogu da vežbam sa tobom? Da li mog-oo da vye-zh-bam sa tob-om? Can I practice with you?
Потрудићу се да научим! / Potrudiću se da naučim!  Pot-roo-dee-ch-oo sye da na-oo-chim I will try my best to learn
Колико имаш година? / Koliko imaš godina?   Kol-ee-ko ima-sh god-ina? How old are you?
Имам (двадесет једну/тридесет две) године. /
Imam (dvadeset jednu/trideset dve) godine.
Ee-mam (dva-dye-syet јye-dnoo, tri-dye-syet dvye) goee-nye I’m (twenty-one/thirty-two) years old
Драго ми је да смо попричали! / Drago mi je a smo pričali! Drago mi јye da smo pop-ri-cha-lee! It was nice talking to you!
Драго ми је да смо се упознали! / Drago mi je da smo se upoznali!  Dra-go mi јye da smo sye oo-poz-na-lee! It was nice meeting you!
Ово је моја супруга. /
Ovo je moja supruga.
Ovo јye moјa soo-pr-ooga This is my wife
Ово је мој супруг. / Ovo je moj suprug. Ovo јye moј soo-pr-oog This is my husband
Поздрави Luku u moje ime. / Pozdravi Luku u moje ime. Poz-dra-vee Luku oo moye eeme Say hi to Luka for me

 

Final Thoughts

It’s a pretty important thing to know how to introduce yourself In Serbian while talking to someone from Serbia or when you are visiting this beautiful country. And if you want to learn other useful words and phrases or to master Serbian, you should use the Ling App.

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