Fractions, percentages and approximation
In short
| Quantity | Noun after it | Verb |
|---|---|---|
| pola | genitive | neuter sg: je ostalo |
| polovina / trećina / četvrtina | genitive | feminine sg: je glasala |
| dve trećine | genitive | plural: su |
| jedan procenat / dva procenta / pet procenata | + genitive pl | as the number: pet procenata … je platilo |
| oko / nekih + number | as the number | as the number |
| tri zarez dva (3,2) | genitive sg: kilometra, procenta | neuter sg |
The verb agrees with the quantity word, not with the genitive noun.
B2 · Lesson 8 · Razlomci, procenti i približne količine
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
In the last lesson you saw that a subject like pet studenata or mnogo ljudi makes the verb neuter singular: Došlo je pet studenata. This lesson asks the same two questions about a new set of quantity words — halves, thirds, percentages, rough figures and decimals: what case does the counted thing take, and what does the verb agree with. The answer to the first is almost always the same: the genitive. The answer to the second depends on what kind of word the quantity is.
Half: pola and polovina
Serbian has two words for half. pola is a frozen word that never changes its form; it works exactly like mnogo or pet. polovina is an ordinary feminine noun (like žena) and declines: polovina, polovine, polovinu…. Both put what they measure in the genitive: pola sata, pola grada, polovina stanovnika. In everyday speech pola is far more common; polovina sounds more precise and is typical of reports and news.
Thirds and quarters: fraction nouns
Other fractions are feminine nouns too: trećina (a third), četvrtina (a quarter). They decline like polovina and the measured thing follows in the genitive: trećina budžeta, četvrtina plate. To say two thirds or three quarters, use the counting form you know from dve žene: dve trećine, tri četvrtine. As an object they take the accusative like any feminine noun: Pojeli smo trećinu torte.
| Nominative | Genitive | Accusative | With a number |
|---|---|---|---|
| polovina | polovine | polovinu | — |
| trećina | trećine | trećinu | dve trećine |
| četvrtina | četvrtine | četvrtinu | tri četvrtine |
Percentages: procenat
procenat (percent) is a masculine noun counted like any other: jedan procenat, dva procenta, pet procenata, trideset procenata. What the percentage is of follows in the genitive plural: trideset procenata kupaca, pet procenata ljudi. So there are two genitives in a row — one because of the number, one because of the percentage. In speech and in the news you will also hear the frozen word odsto, which never changes: deset odsto.
| Number | Form of procenat | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jedan | procenat | jedan procenat glasova |
| dva, tri, četiri | procenta | dva procenta glasova |
| pet and up | procenata | pet procenata glasova |
Rough figures: oko, nekih, otprilike
A figure is often only approximate. oko (around) is the preposition you know from time expressions, and it takes the genitive: oko pola sata, oko hiljadu ljudi. nekih in front of a number means roughly, about: nekih dvadeset minuta, nekih šezdeset kvadrata. otprilike (approximately) is an adverb and changes nothing: otprilike dvesta hiljada stanovnika. In every case the noun after the number keeps the form the number itself requires.
Decimal numbers
Serbian writes a decimal number with a comma, not a point, and reads the comma aloud as zarez: 3,4 is tri zarez četiri. After a decimal number the measured noun stands in the genitive singular — a decimal is a part of one unit, not a count of whole ones: četiri zarez dva kilometra, tri zarez dva procenta, dva zarez pet litra. A half is usually said with i po: dva i po kilograma.
What the verb agrees with
| Quantity word | Verb and participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| pola + genitive | neuter singular | Pola grada je ostalo bez struje. |
| polovina, trećina, četvrtina | feminine singular, agreeing with the fraction noun | Polovina stanovnika je glasala. |
| dve trećine, tri četvrtine | plural, as after dve | Dve trećine građana su protiv. |
| pet procenata, trideset procenata | neuter singular, as after pet | Trideset procenata kupaca je platilo karticom. |
| oko / nekih + number | whatever that number requires | Na sastanak je došlo oko pedeset ljudi. |
| decimal number | neuter singular | Palo je dva zarez pet milimetra kiše. |
The verb agrees with the QUANTITY word, never with the genitive after it. Polovina studenata je došla — feminine, because polovina is feminine, even though studenata is a plural. Pola studenata je došlo — neuter, because pola behaves like pet. Do not let the plural noun at the end pull the verb into the plural.
Check what you read
6 of the 19 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Pola studenata je ___ na predavanje.
Polovina studenata je ___ na predavanje.
Čekao sam pola(sat) na autobus.
Na stan potrošimo(polovina) plate.
Trećina(radnik) radi od kuće.
Četvrtina ispitanika nije ___ na pitanje.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Četvrtina budžeta ide na plate.
A quarter of the budget goes on salaries.
Trećinu torte smo pojeli odmah.
We ate a third of the cake right away.
Polovina stanovnika je glasala na izborima.
Half of the residents voted in the election.
Trideset procenata kupaca je platilo karticom.
Thirty percent of the customers paid by card.
Koliko je procenata dobila njegova stranka?
What percentage did his party get?
Cene su porasle za deset procenata.
Prices went up by ten percent.
Prva polovina utakmice je bila dosadna.
The first half of the match was boring.
Trećina ispitanika nije odgovorila na pitanje.
A third of the respondents did not answer the question.
Pola gostiju je otišlo pre ponoći.
Half the guests left before midnight.
Pola grada je ostalo bez struje.
Half the city was left without electricity.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 25
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
A quarter of the budget goes on salaries.