Have you been learning Serbian on your own for a while now? If yes, you should be familiar with writing informally. This time, I decided to write something about how to write letters or emails in Serbian. The same tactic you can use while writing an email. This demands better knowledge of Serbian, so it is NOT for beginners. You can easily read this article if your level is B2+ and you already have a good knowledge of the Serbian language.
If you need to learn how to write a business letter or email, you are in the right place. After reading this blog post, I hope you are going to write business letters and emails in Serbian much easier, and your business partners from any Serbian-speaking country would be impressed with your knowledge.
Serbian Greeting Phrases And Words
As you probably already know, the greeting is a significant part of any letter or email. What the proper greeting depends on whether you know the person you are writing to and how formal your relationship is.
Veoma formalno (Very formal)
This greeting you can use for official business letters and emails.
Uvažena gospodo (Reputable gentlemen) Use this greeting only when you do not know to whom you must address the letter or email, for example, when writing to an institution. Uvaženi gospodine (Reputable mr.) / Uvažena gospođo (Reputable Madam)
When you are writing to a specific person, and you already know his/her last name, your letter or email should start like this:
- Use “Uvaženi gospodine Petroviću “(Reputable Mr. Petrovic) when you have a named male contact.
- Or “Uvažena gospođo Petrović” (Reputable Madam Petrovic) when you have a named female contact.
Manje formalno (Less formal)
This is a less formal but still professional way to write letters and emails.
“Drage kolege” (Dear students) – The teachers will use this greeting when they get on really well with their students, and they want to show their affection. Contrarily, they would simply write “Uvažene kolege” to the men only or to a group of people in general or “Uvažene koleginice” if the professor speaks to the girls only when they want to be a bit polite, especially at the beginning when they do not know you. On other occasions, they would use simply “koleginice / kolege.”
Neformalno (Informal) – personal letters
It would be best if you used these greetings with people you are close to. Make sure not to use them if you communicate with older adults or persons you don’t know, as they might be offended.
- Pozdrav društvo (Hello guys) – Use when writing to a group of people you know very well.
- Ćao (Hi) – Use when writing to one or more people you know very well.
There should be a comma after the salutation and a colon after “Uvaženi/uvažene.”
Note: Avoid the exclamation (!) in greetings. Avoid the caps because if your letters are big all the time, it will sound like you are yelling.
How To Start Your Letter Or Email
There are two ways in which your letters or emails usually start:
- they make reference to a previous contact, for example, a phone conversation, meeting, previous mail correspondence
- they are the first contact with the recipient
Making Reference To The Previous Contact
- Pišem Vam u vezi… (I am writing regarding…) / Pišemo Vam u vezi… (we are writing regarding…)
- sa Vašim upitom o … (your inquiry about … )
- sa našim telefonskim razgovorom (our phone conversation …)
- kako bismo odgovorili na Vaš upit (In reply to your request …)
- Hvala što ste nas kontaktirali. (Thank you for contacting us. )
Contacting The Recipient For The First Time
- Pišem Vam… (I am writing…) / Pišemo Vam… (we are writing…)
- da Vas obavestim da… (to inform you that …)
- confirm … — potvrdim …
- da se raspitam o…. (to enquire about …)
- da se požalim na…. (to complain about …)
- Kontaktiram Vas iz sledećeg razloga (I am contacting you for the following reason)
- Skoro sam čuo (says a man) / čula (says a woman) da … (I recently heard about … and would like to …)
How To Make A Request
- Bilo bi nam drago ako biste …. (We would appreciate it if you would …)
- Bio bih vam zahvalan (says a man) / Bila bih vam zahvalna (says a woman) ako biste … (I would be grateful if you could …)
- Da li biste mi poslali …. molim Vas ( Could you please send me …)
- Da li biste nam možda rekli… (Could you possibly tell us …)
- Bilo bi korisno ako biste nam mogli poslati… (It would be helpful if you could send us …)
How To Give Good News
- Zadovoljstvo nam je da najavimo… (We are pleased to announce that …)
- Sa zadovoljstvom Vas obaveštavam da… (I am delighted to inform you that …)
How To Give Bad News
- Žao nam je što vas moramo obavestiti da… (We regret to inform you that …)
- Bojim se da to nije moguće (I’m afraid it would not be possible to …)
- Na žalost, ne možemo… (Unfortunately we are unable to …)
- Nakon detaljnog razmatranja, odlučili smo… (After careful consideration we have decided …)
How To End Your Letter Or Email
Enclosures
- u prilogu Vam dostavljamo (Please find enclosed) – for letters
- u prilogu možete pronaći (Please find attached) – for emails
How To Offer Future Assistance
- Ako Vam je potrebno više informacija, molim Vas da nam javite. (If you require more information, please let us know.)
- Ako Vam je potrebna neka dodatna pomoć, slobodno nas kontaktirate. (Please feel free to contact us if you need any further assistance.)
How To Refer To Future Contact
- Radujem se našem skorašnjem razgovoru. (I am looking forward to talking to you soon.)
- Radujemo se sastanku sa Vama, 23. marta u Beogradu. (We are looking forward to meeting you on 23 March in Belgrade.
- Bili bismo Vam zahvalni ako biste nam odgovorili što je pre moguće. (We would appreciate your reply at your earliest convenience. )
How To Write Closing Salutations In Serbian
The way you are writing the closing should match the opening salutation and the overall tone of the letter or email. You can choose one of the following closing lines depending on the formality of the salutation.
Formal Letters Or Emails In Serbian
- Srdačan pozdrav (Kind regards)
- Bićemo u kontaktu (We will be in touch)
- S’ poštovanjem (Respectfully)
Informal Letters Or Emails In Serbian
- Sve najbolje (Best Regards)
- Ljubim te (I’m kissing you) Homework, try to write your business letter.
Learn More Serbian With The Ling App
Learning how to write letters or emails in Serbian was awesome! Right? If you want to learn Serbian sentence structure or to have a basic conversation, you should consider some great resources to learn the Serbian language. The Ling app is definitely one of them. It contains 200+ lessons filled with vocabulary that will help you memorize Serbian phrases and words faster. Don’t waste your time by choosing to study tomorrow. Start your Serbian lessons by downloading the app on the Play Store or App Store today!
