Money moments are short, they repeat all day, and they're the ones you can't mime your way out of. The good news is that three sentences carry almost all of them: Koliko košta? (how much is it?), Može karticom? (can I pay by card?) and Zadržite kusur (keep the change). Learn those, plus a handful of words for the money itself, and the till stops being the scary part of the day.
Published 28 August 2026
One thing to get straight before the phrases, because it trips people up: the money isn't the same on both sides of the border. Serbia uses the dinar — prices are in dinara, and a rough anchor is that 1,000 dinara is about eight to nine euros. Montenegro, despite not being in the EU or the eurozone, uses the euro for everyday cash. That's the only thing that really changes between the two: swap dinara for evra and every phrase below works identically.
Eight words cover the counter. The "Say it" column is a rough English-sound guide — stress the part in capitals; it's a crutch until you've heard the words, not a replacement for hearing them.
| Serbian / Montenegrin | Say it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| novac / pare | NO-vats / PA-re | money (formal / everyday) |
| gotovina / keš | go-TO-vee-na / kesh | cash (proper word / slang) |
| kartica | KAR-tee-tsa | card |
| cena / cijena | TSE-na / TSEE-ye-na | price (Serbia / Montenegro spelling) |
| račun | RA-choon | the bill / the receipt (same word) |
| kusur | KOO-soor | the change (money handed back) |
| sitno | SEET-no | small change / coins |
| popust | PO-poost | a discount |
Two sounds to watch: the c in cena is a hard "ts" (as in cats), never an "s"; and the č in račun is a "ch". The r in račun and kartica is a quick tap of the tongue, not the English r. If those letters are still a mystery, the Serbian pronunciation guide is the half-hour that fixes them.
Start here, because it's the phrase you'll say most:
Then you have to catch the number that comes back, which is really a numbers problem more than a money one. Prices bend the noun: jedan dinar, but dva/tri/četiri dinara, and pet dinara and up — the same pattern euros follow (jedan evro, dva evra, pet evra). You don't have to produce those endings to pay; you just have to recognise the round number. If your numbers wobble past the twenties, spend a session on numbers 1 to 100 first — it pays for itself at every till.
In a city, contactless is everywhere and you'll rarely be asked to explain yourself. But the question does come, and here's both directions of it:
| You'll hear | You can say |
|---|---|
| Gotovinom ili karticom? Cash or card? | Karticom, molim. — By card, please. Gotovinom. — In cash. |
| Imate li sitno? Do you have small change? | Može karticom? — Card OK? Primate li kartice? — Do you take cards? |
| Nemam sitno. (the clerk) I've no change. | Možete li da mi usitnite? — Can you break this note? |
That -om on gotovinom and karticom isn't decoration — it's the instrumental case, the "by means of" ending, which is exactly why the words shift shape when money is involved. You can pay all day without dissecting it, but if you'd like the why, the instrumental explained covers this "by / with" case in plain terms. And keep some sitno on you: bakeries, market stalls and the odd taxi are still cash-only, and handing over a 2,000-dinar note for a burek does not make you friends.
Here's how twenty seconds at a bakery counter actually runs. You're buying a burek and a bottle of water, card in hand:
You: Dobar dan. Jedan burek i vodu, molim. — Hello. One burek and a water, please.
Clerk: Izvolite. To je dvesta osamdeset dinara. — Here you go. That's 280 dinara.
You: Može karticom? — Card OK?
Clerk: Naravno. Izvolite. — Of course. There you are.
You: Treba mi račun, molim. — I need the receipt, please.
You (paying cash instead): Evo, zadržite kusur. — Here — keep the change.
That's the whole script. Swap the food for whatever you're buying and the same five lines carry you through a kiosk, a market stall or a café. Notice vodu, not voda — the thing you're asking for takes the accusative — the same quiet case-shift you meet everywhere once you start ordering.
Tipping is low-key here. There's no fixed percentage; people round up, or leave the kusur in a café or taxi, and that's plenty. The phrases:
At a sit-down meal, the words for splitting and paying overlap with the wider restaurant kit; if that's where you're headed, restaurant phrases for the Balkans picks up where this leaves off.
Shops have fixed prices — no bargaining in a supermarket or a chain. The market (pijaca) is the exception, and even there it's gentle. Useful vocabulary:
The register that works at a market is friendly, not hard-nosed: a smile and Može li malo jeftinije? over a full bag, not a standoff. For the wider shopping vocabulary — bags, weights, "just looking" — the shopping words round it out.
Picture yourself at a bakery. Cover the answers and produce the Serbian:
Answers: 1) Koliko košta? (or Pošto?) 2) Može karticom? (or Primate li kartice?) 3) Zadržite kusur.
How do you ask how much something costs in Serbian? Koliko košta? for a single item, or Koliko sve zajedno? (how much all together?) for a basket. In a market you'll also hear the short, colloquial Pošto? — literally "for how much?" — which locals use constantly.
What money does Serbia use, and what does Montenegro use? Serbia uses the dinar (RSD): prices are quoted in dinara, and 1,000 dinara is roughly eight to nine euros. Montenegro is not in the EU or the eurozone but uses the euro as its everyday currency. The phrases are the same in both places — only the word for the money on the counter changes.
How do you say "keep the change" in Serbian? Zadržite kusur to a stranger, or Zadrži kusur to someone you'd address informally. Kusur is the change — the money handed back. It's a common, low-key tip in a café or taxi; there's no obligation to leave one, and rounding up is normal rather than a percentage.
Can you pay by card in Serbia and Montenegro? In cities, very widely — contactless is normal in shops, cafés and taxis. Ask Može karticom? (card OK?) or Primate li kartice? (do you take cards?). At green markets, small bakeries and some family-run places it's cash only, so it's worth carrying some notes and keeping small change (sitno) for them.
Money phrases are the best possible first conversation, because they're short, the stakes are low, and you get instant, unambiguous feedback — the right change lands in your hand. That's exactly the kind of tiny, real exchange Gora drills: you rehearse koliko košta and može karticom with the fox until they're reflex, so the first time a real clerk fires gotovinom ili karticom? at you, your mouth already knows the answer. If you want the phrases hung on the grammar behind them, the Serbian roadmap lays out a sensible order. A quick Montenegrin note before you go: everything here holds across the border — you'll just spend evra and see cijena on the label, one of the small ijekavian differences that never gets in the way.