Ways to say it
| Serbian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| срећан | srȅćan | /srêt͡ɕan/ | Bosnia, Cyrillic, Serbia |
| сретан | srȅtan | /srêtan/ | Bosnia, Croatia, Cyrillic |
| srećan | /srêt͡ɕan/ | Bosnia, Latin, Serbia | |
| sretan | /srêtan/ | Bosnia, Croatia, Latin |
The word is an adjective used to describe someone who is contented or joyous. You will often see it used in common greetings, such as Срећан Рођендан! to say Happy Birthday!
Which one should you use?
The forms differ primarily by their script and regional preference. The forms срећан and srećan are used in Serbia, while сретан and sretan are preferred in Croatia. Additionally, срећан and сретан are written in Cyrillic, whereas srećan and sretan are written in Latin script.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Serbia, the standard spelling uses the character ћ, as seen in срећан and srećan.
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, the word must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. For example, срећна is the feminine singular form and срећни is the masculine plural form.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is srȅćan. The IPA is /srêtɕan/.
When do people say it?
A very common way to use this word is in the phrase Срећан Рођендан! to wish someone a Happy Birthday.
Did you know?
- While срећан means 'happy', it shares a root with the word срећа, which also translates to 'luck'. In Serbian, the concept of being happy is linguistically tied to being lucky.
- The character ћ in срећан is unique to the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet and represents a soft 'ch' sound that does not exist in Russian or Bulgarian.
- To say 'Good luck!', Serbians use the phrase Срећно!, which is the adverbial form of the word for 'happy'.
Examples in context
- Juče sam bio srećan.I was happy yesterday.This sentence shows how to express being happy in the past tense using srećan.Tatoeba #2925868 by Lebad, translation #257773 by CK
- Srećan sam zbog toga.I'm happy about that.This sentence expresses being happy about a specific thing using srećan.Tatoeba #4972148 by Lebad, translation #4963993 by CK
- Нико није био срећан.No one was happy.This sentence uses the Cyrillic form срећан to say no one was happy.Tatoeba #12414709 by Lebad, translation #9265863 by CK
- Srećan rođendanHappy birthday
- Srećna nova godinaHappy New Year
- Dragi prijatelji, ovo je radosan dan!Dear friends, this is a happy day!
- Sretan put!Have a safe journey!
- Srećno!Good luck/have fun!
- Volim te, srećice mojaI love you, my happiness
- Dobro jutro, srećan ti danGood morning, have a happy day
- 64 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Stefan and Ana are talking about their new jobs.
- StefanЈеси ли срећан на новом месту?Are you happy at the new place?
- AnaДа, веома сам задовољна.Yes, I am very satisfied.
- StefanТо је одлично чути.That is great to hear.
- AnaИ ја сам срећан због тебе, Стефане.And I am happy for you, Stefan.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “happy” translations and entries срећан, сретан, srećan, sretan, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
