How to Say Hi in Montenegro

Montenegro, literally “Black Mountain” is located along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and borders Croatia, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Serbia. The Montenegrin language, “ljekavian-Shtokavian” is generally known as a dialect of Serbian but some insist that it is its own language. Whether you are planning a trip, trying to woo an attractive Montenegrin or composing a Eurovision song, here are a few basic phrases to help you along the way.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patience and persistence
• Someone to help you practice
• A trip to Montenegro to test out your newly learned phrases

Saying Hello

1. Zdravo means Hello. Start out by making a "Zzzz" sound.

2. Stop the "Zzzz" sound with an abrupt "d" sound. So "Zzzzd" will basically sound like an onomatopoeia for zapping a bug.

3. The last part of the word "avo" is pronounced the same way we pronounce "avocado."

Common Expressions and Phrases

4. Crna Gora means Montenegro. The "C" is pronounced "Serna Gora."

5. Dobar Dan means "Good Afternoon." This phrase is easy. You pronounce it the way it looks: "Dough-bar Don."

6. Dovidjenja means "Goodbye." The "jen" is pronounced like the nickname for Jennifer, "Jen." The "ja" is pronounced with a "y" sound like "yah."

7. Ja sam dobro means "I am well." The "ja" is pronounced the same way we pronounced "ja" in Goodbye. The entire phrase is pronounced "Yah Sahm dough-bro."

8. Ja se zovem means "My name is." Is an easy phrase. It is pretty much pronounced the way it looks "Yah say zovem."

9. Kako Ste? means "How are you?" It's pronounced "Kah-ko Steh?"

10. Kako se zoves? means "What is your name?" It's pronounced "Kah-ko say zo-vez?"

11. Volim te means "I love you." "Lim" is pronounced "leem" and the "te" is pronounced "tay." "Voleem Tay."

12. Gdje je means "Where is?" The "Gd" looks pretty intimidating but no worries, it's pronounced the say way you would say "g'day, mate." The "je je" is pronounced with a "y" sound, "yeh yeh."

[midcenturymaven]

on 9/23/2009 I love learning new languages. Montenegro sounds so exotic, like the perfect setting for a spy novel. Definitely worth looking up.

[robert2584]

on 9/23/2009 A really good one!

[respectfully]

on 9/23/2009 Congradulations! I like this article on Say hi in Montenegro, I wish I could of just jumped into the picture. 5* R

[elaineee]

on 9/12/2009 Interesting language lessons. Who knows I might need this one day. Thank you

[lanijo]

on 8/12/2009 What an interesting language, it's really nice to know the language of places you visit, hopefully I can get a chance to use this well explained article, Thanks *****