Here's the advice worth giving every beginner in their first week: don't wait until you can build a polite full sentence. Learn to ask. A question puts the work on the other person — they answer, you listen, and you've just had a real exchange for the price of one word. Here's the whole toolkit.
The eight you actually need
The "Say it" column is a rough English-sound guide — lean on the syllable in capitals. It's a crutch until you've heard the words, not a replacement for hearing them.
| Montenegrin / Serbian | Say it | English | Example |
|---|
| ko | ko | who | Ko je to? — Who is that? |
| šta / što | shta / shto | what | Šta je ovo? — What is this? |
| gdje / gde | gdyeh / gdeh | where | Gdje je toalet? — Where's the toilet? |
| kad(a) | KA-da | when | Kada kreće bus? — When does the bus leave? |
| zašto | ZASH-to | why | Zašto ne? — Why not? |
| kako | KA-ko | how | Kako se kaže…? — How do you say…? |
| koji | KO-yee | which | Koji autobus? — Which bus? |
| koliko | KO-lee-ko | how much / many | Koliko košta? — How much is it? |
Notice the useful beginner pattern: the question word comes first, followed by the verb or auxiliary. Serbian adds no English-style “do”: Gdje je stanica? is literally “Where is station?” and is a complete question. Serbian word order is flexible enough to shift for emphasis or context, but this default will serve you well.
A couple of these earn their place ten times a day. Koliko? on its own — just "how much?" — handles every price, every quantity, every "how far is it?" you'll ever need at a market or a bus window. And Kako se kaže…? ("how do you say…?") is the single most useful sentence a beginner owns: you point, you ask, and the person in front of you hands you the exact word you were missing. Plenty of learners have built half their vocabulary standing in queues doing precisely that.
The šta / što thing
You'll see both šta and što for “what”. Šta is the usual standalone question word in standard Serbian and Bosnian, while Croatian normally uses što. Montenegro is less tidy: both forms occur, and prescription and everyday usage can differ by region and register. They are widely understood, so follow your teacher or target community rather than treating one form as universal.
The case-form catch: “who”, “what” and “which” can change
The adverbs gdje, kad, zašto, kako and koliko stay put. The pronouns and determiners ko, šta/što and koji can change with case. For example, šta/što has forms such as čega (of what), čemu (to what) and čim (with what). Here is the most useful starter set for ko:
ko (who) across cases:
- Ko je to? — Who is that? (subject)
- Koga vidiš? — Whom do you see? (object)
- Kome to daješ? — To whom are you giving that?
- S kim ideš? — With whom are you going?
Don't try to master that table today. Just know it exists, so that when you meet koga in the wild you recognise it as "who" doing a different job, not a brand-new word. It's the same case system running under the whole language — the question words just play by the same rules. If cases are still fuzzy, the accusative case explained is the gentlest place to start.
These are only half the story: yes/no questions work differently
Everything above is for open questions — the ones a single word can’t answer. But plenty of questions just want a yes or a no: “Do you have it?”, “Is it open?” Those don’t use a question word at all. Instead you front Da li (Da li imate…?) or clip the little word li onto the verb (Imate li…?). It’s a small, separate machinery worth learning alongside these eight — we walk through it in yes/no questions in Serbian.
Turn them loose in a shop
The fastest way to make these stick is to actually use them, badly, in public. Point at a pastry and say Šta je ovo? Ask a price with Koliko? and a raised eyebrow. Lost? Gdje je…? plus the name of the thing. You'll be amazed how much a single question word plus gesture can carry a conversation. Pair them with a few greetings and you've got the skeleton of every small interaction a traveller has.
A real exchange, built from question words
Here's how far five of these eight words carry you at a bus window — no full sentences required:
You: Dobar dan. Koji autobus ide za Kotor? — Good day. Which bus goes to Kotor?
Clerk: Onaj, peron dva. — That one, platform two.
You: Kada kreće? — When does it leave?
Clerk: U deset i petnaest. — At quarter past ten.
You: Koliko košta? — How much is it?
You (unsure of a word): Kako se kaže "return ticket"? — How do you say…?
Five question words, one real conversation. The numbers coming back at you are the only hard part, which is really a numbers problem more than a question one — worth a session of its own.
Try it (answers below)
You're at a market stall. Cover the answers and produce the question:
- Ask what something is.
- Ask how much it costs.
- You don't know the word for it — ask how to say it.
Answers: 1) Šta je ovo? (or Što je ovo?) 2) Koliko košta? 3) Kako se kaže…?
Quick questions
How do you say "what" in Serbian? Šta is the usual standalone question word in standard Serbian and Bosnian, while Croatian normally uses što. In Montenegro both forms occur, and usage can vary by region and register. Both are widely understood: Što radiš? and Šta radiš? both mean "What are you doing?"
What are the main question words in Serbian and Montenegrin? The core set is ko (who), šta/što (what), gdje/gde (where), kad(a) (when), zašto (why), kako (how), koji (which) and koliko (how much/many). Learn these eight and you can ask for almost anything.
Does word order change in a question? A reliable beginner order is question word first, then the verb or auxiliary — Gdje je stanica? (Where is the station?). Serbian does not add English-style do-support, but its otherwise flexible word order can shift for emphasis or context.
Why does "ko" change to "koga" and "kome"? Because ko takes case endings like a noun. Koga is the accusative/genitive (whom), kome is the dative (to whom). It's the same case system as the rest of the language, just applied to a question word.
Front-loading questions works because they're the cheapest fluency you can buy. Eight words, and the whole country becomes something you can interrogate your way through. If you want them drilled into you with real sentences and a fox who'll actually answer back when you ask Kako si?, that's exactly what Gora is for — and the Serbian roadmap shows where question words sit in the bigger picture.
PS — the first question to practise on a real person? Kako se kaže…? ("How do you say…?"). It turns every stranger into a teacher.