Dates and Ordinal Numbers

01

Ordinals Are Adjectives

An ordinal agrees in gender, number and case with what it counts, taking the definite adjective endings.

• prvi (first), drugi (second), treći (third), četvrti (fourth), peti (fifth)

• prvi dan

  the first day (masculine)

• druga ulica

  the second street (feminine)

• treće mjesto

  third place (neuter)

02

The Month Names

All twelve are masculine nouns and decline like any other masculine noun; the ones ending in -ar drop their a before an ending, so oktobar becomes oktobra.

• januar (January), februar (February), mart (March), april (April), maj (May), juni (June)
• juli (July), august (August), septembar (September), oktobar (October), novembar (November), decembar (December)

"In" a month is u plus the locative.

• Rođen sam u aprilu.

  I was born in April.

• U decembru ću imati sedamnaest godina.

  In December I will be seventeen.

03

Writing the Date

The day and the month always stand in the same case, and the case depends on what you are doing with the date. Naming the date - answering "what is today?" - puts both in the plain nominative.

• Danas je prvi maj.

  Today is the first of May.

• Danas je peti oktobar.

  Today is the fifth of October.

Saying that something happens on a date puts both in the genitive, and that genitive is the whole of English "on".

• Rođendan mi je petog juna.

  My birthday is on the fifth of June.

• pet-og genitive, jun-a genitive - no preposition anywhere

• Rođen sam dvanaestog augusta.

  I was born on the twelfth of August.

04

Days and the Date Question

The day of the month is likewise an ordinal, and there are fixed ways to ask for it.

• Koji je danas datum?

  What is the date today?

• Koji je danas dan?

  What day is it today?

Written in figures, a Bosnian ordinal carries a full stop: 1. is prvi, 12. is dvanaesti. So a date written 12. 8. reads as the twelfth of August - day first, then month, both with their stops.

05

The Days of the Week

The weekday names are their own set; you say "on" a day with u plus the accusative.

• ponedjeljak (Monday), utorak (Tuesday), srijeda (Wednesday)
• četvrtak (Thursday), petak (Friday), subota (Saturday), nedjelja (Sunday)

• Vidimo se u petak.

  See you on Friday.

06

Telling the Time

Full hours use a cardinal number with sat (hour, o'clock); "at" a time uses u plus the accusative.

• Koliko je sati?

  What time is it?

• Sad je deset sati.

  It is ten o'clock now.

• Nalazimo se u osam.

  We are meeting at eight.

07

Years

A year is read as an ordinal, and "in" a year is expressed with the genitive.

• Rođen sam dvije hiljade prve.

  I was born in 2001.

• Sada je dvije hiljade dvadeset peta.

  It is now the year 2025.