Festivals & Events

1. Честитам Нову годину!

   čes-TI-tam NO-vu GO-di-nu

   Happy New Year!

   Usage

   Used as a New Year greeting on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day

   Grammar Note

   честитати (to congratulate) → 1st person честитам. Нова година (New Year, feminine) → accusative Нову годину

2. Срећан Божић!

   SRE-ćan BO-žić

   Merry Christmas!

   Usage

   Christmas greeting. Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates on January 7th (Julian calendar)

   Grammar Note

   срећан is the masculine adjective agreeing with Божић (masculine noun). The Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar

3. Данас је Слава у нашој кући

   DA-nas je SLA-va u NA-šoj KU-ći

   Today is Slava (patron saint's day) at our home

   Usage

   Used to explain Slava, the Serbian family patron saint tradition

   Grammar Note

   Slava is a uniquely Serbian tradition recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. у + locative expresses location

4. Exit фестивал је одличан

   Exit FES-ti-val je OD-li-čan

   The Exit Festival is excellent

   Usage

   Used when talking about Exit, Serbia's largest music festival held in Novi Sad

   Grammar Note

   одличан is the masculine predicate adjective agreeing with фестивал. Exit Festival is a music festival that has been held in Novi Sad

5. Срећна слава вашем дому!

   SRE-ćna SLA-va VA-šem DO-mu

   Happy Slava to your household!

   Usage

   Traditional greeting when celebrating another family's Slava

   Grammar Note

   срећна is the feminine adjective agreeing with слава. дом (home, masculine) takes dative ending -у

6. Да ли сте ишли на фестивал у Гучи?

   da li ste I-šli na FES-ti-val u GU-či

   Have you been to the Guča Festival?

   Usage

   Used when discussing Serbia's famous trumpet festival in Guča

   Grammar Note

   "Сте ишли" is the perfect (2nd plural) of "ићи". Serbian cannot stack a place name in front of a noun the way English does, so it is "фестивал у Гучи", not "Гуча фестивал" (locative of "Гуча" is "Гучи"). Guča hosts the world's largest trumpet festival

7. Посни колачи се праве пред Божић

   POS-ni ko-LA-či se PRA-ve pred BO-žić

   Fasting-season sweets are made before Christmas

   Usage

   Used to explain Orthodox fasting food traditions before Christmas

   Grammar Note

   посни derives from пост (fast). пред + accusative expresses "before" in temporal meaning

8. Идемо на корзо ноћас

   I-de-mo na KOR-zo NO-ćas

   Let us go to the evening promenade tonight

   Usage

   Used to invite someone to корзо, the traditional Serbian evening social walk

   Grammar Note

   идемо is 1st plural present of ићи (to go), used as an invitation. ноћас (tonight) derives from ноћ (night)

9. Ово је традиционална народна игра

   O-vo je tra-di-ci-O-nal-na NA-rod-na I-gra

   This is a traditional folk dance

   Usage

   Used to introduce Serbian folk dances like коло

   Grammar Note

   народна is the feminine adjective agreeing with игра. коло is the Serbian circular folk dance, an UNESCO intangible heritage

10. Добродошли на прославу!

    dob-ro-DO-šli na PRO-sla-vu

    Welcome to the celebration!

    Usage

    Used to welcome guests to a festival or celebratory event

    Grammar Note

    на + accusative expresses direction "to." прослава (celebration, feminine) takes accusative -у

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