zdravo
/zdrâʋo/
zdravo is the Serbian way to say hello.
This phrase is used as a common greeting to say hello when arriving or as a parting to say goodbye when leaving someone.
Which one should you use?
While zdravo is a standard informal greeting, it is more informal than the more formal standard greeting Dobar dan, which means 'Good day'.
How do you pronounce it?
/zdrâʋo/
Did you know?
- The English word 'hail', as in 'Hail Caesar', is a distant linguistic relative of zdravo via the ancient Gothic word hails, which also meant 'healthy' or 'whole'.
- In Serbian, the concept of 'health' and 'sanity' is captured by the same root found in zdravo. A person who is 'sound' in mind is described using a form of the same word.
- If you were to use the more formal version of this greeting in Russian, you would say здравствуйте (zdravstvujte), which shares the exact same root of 'health'.
Examples in context
- Zdravo, kako si?Hello, how are you?
- Zdravo svima!Hello everyone!
- Moram ići, zdravo.I must go, goodbye.
Example conversation
Jelena and Stefan meet on the street.
- JelenaZdravo, Stefane!Hello, Stefan!
- StefanZdravo, Jelena. Gde ideš?Hello, Jelena. Where are you going?
- JelenaIdem u prodavnicu.I am going to the store.
- StefanU redu, vidimo se kasnije.Alright, see you later.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry zdravo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries zdravo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
