If you want to travel to another country, one of the best ways to be closer to the locals is by speaking their language. It’s always lovely to hear your language from a foreigner’s mouth. Want to talk to locals in Montenegro? Here are Basic Montenegrin or Serbian Phrases You Need to Learn.

When in Montenegro, you don’t have to worry if you don’t speak fluently in Montenegrin or Serbian; locals in touristy cities can speak English. However, for the older generation and locals up North, it may be difficult. You may find it weird at first as they have extra letters in their alphabet with different pronunciations; there are also rules regarding gender, but you’ll get it eventually. Read below on just simple greetings.

Other articles you can read:

Montenegrin 101

The Montenegrin language one of the four languages in Serbo-Croatian or Stokavian. Stokavian is the basis of Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. In October 2007, a few months after Montenegro’s Independence, it became their official language.

Montenegrin has 2 alphabets, the Latin ones (A, B, C) and the Cyrillic (A, Б, Ц.) They are both officially recognized and used in the country. However, for this article, I’ll just use the Latin Alphabet as the Cyrillic is quite confusing, especially if you are not from Slavic or Eurasian Countries. Plus, as per locals, Latin Alphabets are mostly in everyday life in Montenegro; documents, signs, websites, etc.

The Latin Alphabet consists of 29 single-letter alphabets and three digraphs (2-letters). Here are the letters:

Lj
M
N
Nj
O
P
R
S
Š
Ś
T
U
V
Z
Ž
Ź

A
B
C
Č
Ć
D
Dž
Đ
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L

P.S. It’s quite better to go to websites in Learning Montenegrin as they have audio guides.

Greetings

Here are the basic greetings:

Zdravo – (z)DRA-voh - Hi. Hello. Goodbye

Ćao – Chao - Hi. Hello. Goodbye (Informal)

Dobro jutro – do-bro YOOTRO – Good Morning

Dobar dan – do-BAR dan – Good Afternoon

Dobro veče – do-bro ve-CHE – Good Evening

Laku noć – la-koo KNOWCH – Good Night

Doviđenja – Do-vee JENya – GoodBye

Introduction

Ja sam …(name)... – YA-sam ... – I am …

Moje ime je …(name)... – moYE i-me ye ... – My Name is …

Ja sam iz (place) ... – YA-sam iz ... – I am from …

Drago mi je – drago mee YE – Nice to meet you.

(Drago mi je,) takođe – (drago mee YE) ta-KO-je – Nice to meet you, too.

Basic Responses

Da – Yes

Ne – No

Hvala – hu-VAH-la – Thank you

Nema na čemu – nee-ma na CHE-mu – You’re welcome

Oprostite – o-PROS-ti-te – Excuse Me

Molim – Please

Speaking

Govoriš li … (languange) – go-vo-RISH li ... – Do You Speak ...?

Govoriš li crnogorski? – go-vo-RISH li ts-no-gor-SKI – Do You Speak Montenegrin?

Engleski – en-gles-KI - English

Da, govorim – DA, go-vo-RIM – Yes, I do speak.

Ne, ne govorim – NE, ne go-vo-RIM – No, I do not speak.

Malo – MA-lo – A little.

Govorim crnogorski, malo – go-vo-RIM ts-no-gor-SKI, MA-lo – I speak Montenegrin a little.

Razumijem – ra-zu-mi-yem – I understand.

Ne razumijem – NE ra-zu-mi-yem – I don’t understand.

Ne govorim crnogorski, ali razumijem – NE, ne go-vo-RIM ts-no-gor-SKI , a-li ra-zu-mi-yem – I do not speak Montenegrin, but I understand.

Directions And Places

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros — Photo by *Javier Allegue Barros*

Gdje je (place) – gd-YE ye … – Where is?

Example: Gdje je (centar) - Where is the centar?

Kako se ide do (place) – ka-ko see i-DE doh … – How to get to ..?

Koji autobus ide do (place) – ko-yi ao-to-bus i-DE doh … – Which bus to ..?

Aerodroma – eye-ro-droma - Airport
Hotela – Hotel
Konzulata – Consulate
Desno – Right
Levo – Left
Ravno – Straight

Jednu kartu za ... – yed-nu kar-two za … – One ticket for …

Koliko košta karta do ...? – ko-li-ko kosh-ta kar-ta do … – How much is the fare to …

Accommodation

Imate li … – ih-MA-teh lee ... – Do you have …?

Imate li neku slobodnu sobu – Do you have any rooms available?

koliko kosta soba za ... – How much does a room cost for ...

Ostaću … noć(i) – Os-ta-chu … noch(i) – I will stay for … nights.

Food

Sto za ... osobe, molim – A table for … person(s), please.

Mogu li pogledati u jelovnik – Can I see the menu, please?

Ima li specijalitet kuce – imah-lee spe-chya-li-tet koo-che - Is there a specialty of the house?

Ne jedem … - Ne YE-dem … - I don’t eat ….

Svinjetinu - sveen-ye-ti-noo - Pork
Govendinu - Beef
Ribu - Fish

Povrce – po-verse- Drink

Mogu li dobiti casu ... – May I have a glass of ..., please.

Vode - Water
Kafe - Coffee
Soka - Juice
Piva - Beer

Izvinite, konobar - Excuse me, waiter

Racun, molim - ratsun, mo-lim – The check, please?

Shopping

Koliko kosta ovo? - How much is this?

Imate li ovo u mojoj velicini? - I-mate lee ovo u moyoy velichini - Do you have this my size?

Primate li kreditne kartice? - Do you accept credit card?

Koja je razlika - koya ye razlika - What is the exchange rate?

Treba mi … - I need …

Lijek - medicine
Hranu - food
Pića - drinks

Emergency

Pomoć – Pomoch - Help.

Molim vas pomozite mi. – Please help me.

Izgubio(male) or Izgubila (female) sam se – iz-gubyo/iz-gu-bi-la sam se … – I am lost.

Ne znam gdje se nalazim. Molim vas pomozite mi – I don’t know where I am. Please help me.

Lose mi je - I am sick.

Povrijedio/la sam se. – I am injured.

Treba mi doktor – I need a doctor.

Counting

Here are some simple numbers in Montenegrin or Serbian.

Jedan - Yedan - One

Dva - dvah - Two

Tri - tree - Three

Četiri - chetiri - Four

Pet - Five

Šest - sheist - Six

Sedam - Seven

Osam - Eight

Devet - Nine

Deset - Ten

Jedanaest - Eleven

Dvadeset dva - Twenty Two

Sto - One Hundred

Hiljadu - hilyadu - One Thousand

Bookmark this article and use these Basic Montenegrin Phrases for your travel to Montenegro. This will really be of help to you and will help you experience talking to Montenegrin locals or make a new friend. if you want to Immigrate to Montenegro; this will be helpful when you live there. And in case you want to be a citizen, you’ll need to pass their language test. Good luck and enjoy your quest to learning the language!

About the Writer

Hey, I’m Lyza! I once was a person who just imagined going to places “one day” but decided to pursue my dreams. My first travel abroad was in Japan, solo, last 2018, and I fell in love with the experience. I aim to visit 10 countries before turning 30 and 2 new places in the Philippines every year. Besides traveling, I love organizing trips, taking pictures, reading, and making new friends. Follow my adventures through my Instagram.

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