Bosnian phrases for visitors to Sarajevo

One language, three names

Before any phrasebook makes sense in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it helps to understand what you’re actually looking at. Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are, in linguistic terms, one language with three official standard names. A Sarajevan, a Zagreb resident and a Belgrade resident can hold a conversation without any translation between them; the differences are closer to the gap between British and American English than to the gap between, say, Dutch and German. What changed is political, not linguistic: after Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s, each successor state codified its own standard, with its own name, dictionaries and official status, even though the spoken and written language underneath is shared.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina specifically, all three standards - Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian - are constitutionally recognised, and which one appears on an official document can depend more on which entity issued it than on any real difference in the text. For a visitor this is worth knowing mainly so you don’t over-interpret small vocabulary differences as a bigger divide than it is, and so the alphabet question below makes sense: it’s the same language, but it is written in two different scripts depending on where you are.

Latin or Cyrillic - what you will actually see

Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, plus the small Brčko District, and the script you’ll see on the ground tracks that division closely. In Sarajevo and across the Federation, everything - street signs, menus, shopfronts, museum labels - is in the Latin alphabet, the same 30-ish letters used across most of Europe, with a few accented characters (č, ć, š, ž, đ) that carry distinct sounds. You won’t need to read Cyrillic anywhere in central Sarajevo.

Cross into Republika Srpska, though, and Cyrillic becomes the dominant script on official signage, even though Latin is still understood and often used alongside it informally. This is one of the more visible ways the country’s internal geography shows up in ordinary travel: it’s on the road signs on the way to Višegrad or Trebinje, and it’s on the platform boards at the separate Istočno Sarajevo bus station, on the Republika Srpska side of the city, which serves Belgrade and the east rather than the Sarajevo station used for Mostar and Zagreb - a genuinely useful thing to know before booking a bus.

None of this needs a political read; it’s simply part of what you’re looking at, and the /guides/sarajevo-first-time-guide/ covers the practical side of navigating between the two systems.

If you want the fuller historical picture - how a single Yugoslav language came to be split into three national standards, and how that mirrors the country’s political geography more broadly - a guided walk built around that history fills in the context better than a phrasebook can. The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia tour in Sarajevo spends real time on exactly this, alongside the wider story of the country’s breakup.

Who speaks what in Sarajevo

Practically, language is rarely a barrier in the capital. English is spoken confidently by most people under about 40 - in hotels, museums, tour offices, restaurants aimed at visitors and pretty much anywhere in the city centre - a legacy of English-language schooling and, for many, work or study abroad during and after the 1990s. Older residents are less likely to have English, but German is common instead, carried by the large Bosnian diaspora in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: it’s a genuinely useful backup with an older shopkeeper or a village guesthouse owner on a day trip.

Around Baščaršija specifically, you’ll also hear Turkish and Arabic regularly, reflecting both the neighbourhood’s Ottoman-era roots and the steady flow of visitors from Turkey and the Gulf in recent years - copper workshops and carpet sellers in the Kazandžiluk often have at least a few words of both. None of this changes what you need as a visitor: English gets you through almost everything, and the phrases below are for warmth and courtesy, not necessity. The /guides/sarajevo-tourist-traps/ guide covers the handful of situations - mostly around bargaining and taxis - where a local phrase or two genuinely changes the tone of an interaction.

Ten phrases worth learning

This isn’t a grammar course - Bosnian conjugation and case endings are genuinely complex, and no traveller needs them. These ten are enough to be polite, order food, and ask a price, which covers most of what actually comes up in a few days in Sarajevo.

English	Bosnian	Rough pronunciation
Hello / good day	Dobar dan	DOH-bar dahn
Good evening	Dobro veče	DOH-broh VEH-cheh
Please	Molim	MOH-leem
Thank you	Hvala	HVAH-lah
Yes / No	Da / Ne	dah / neh
Excuse me	Izvinite	eez-VEE-nee-teh
How much does this cost?	Koliko košta?	KOH-lee-koh KOSH-tah
The bill, please	Račun, molim	RAH-choon, MOH-leem
Cheers	Živjeli	ZHEEV-yeh-lee
Goodbye	Doviđenja	doh-vee-JEH-nyah

A couple of these earn their place beyond politeness. “Koliko košta?” is the one to actually use in Baščaršija’s copper workshops and market stalls, where prices aren’t always marked - see the /guides/sarajevo-tourist-traps/ guide for what a fair price looks like once you’ve asked. And “Živjeli” belongs at any table with rakija or a glass of Žilavka or Blatina wine, covered in more depth in the /guides/sarajevo-food-guide/.

Pronunciation notes that matter

Bosnian spelling is close to phonetic, which is more forgiving for visitors than English or French: once you know how the accented letters sound, most words read the way they’re written. The four to know are č (a hard “ch” as in “church”), ć (a softer “ch”, closer to “tch” in “future”), š (a plain “sh”), and ž (like the “s” in “measure”). You’ll meet all four immediately in place names - Baščaršija, Vijećnica, Trebević, Bjelašnica - and getting close is genuinely fine; locals are used to visitors approximating and won’t correct you unless asked.

One habit worth building early: read place names as you’d expect from the spelling rather than guessing an English pronunciation. “Baščaršija” is “BASH-char-shee-yah”, not anything close to how an English speaker might first guess from the letters. The /guides/bascarsija-walking-guide/ is written with this in mind and spells out a few more names you’ll use daily.

Where the phrases actually help

Coffee and cafés. Ordering a bosanska kafa comes with its own small ritual - it’s served in a copper džezva with a piece of rahat lokum and a sugar cube to bite rather than stir in - and “Molim” and “Hvala” are all you need alongside it. The /guides/bosnian-coffee-ritual/ and the /blog/bosnian-coffee-is-not-turkish-coffee/ both go into why locals are particular about the distinction.

Restaurants and ćevabdžinicas. Menus in the centre are almost always bilingual, so English works for ordering, but “Hvala” when the food arrives and “Račun, molim” at the end land well anywhere, including the no-frills spots covered in the /guides/best-cevapi-in-sarajevo/ and the /guides/sarajevo-restaurants-by-budget/.

Mosques and religious sites. At the Gazi Husrev-bey Mosque and elsewhere, a quiet “Hvala” to whoever hands you a headscarf or points you to the right entrance goes further than it costs; the /guides/sarajevo-mosque-etiquette/ covers dress and behaviour in more detail, and the /guides/sarajevo-churches-guide/ and /guides/jewish-sarajevo-guide/ do the same for the city’s other faiths.

Markets, taxis and money. “Koliko košta?” and knowing your numbers roughly (or just pointing at a price and nodding) cover the Markale market and most taxi rides, though app-based or hotel-booked taxis avoid the conversation entirely - see the /guides/money-and-currency-bosnia/ and /guides/sarajevo-public-transport-guide/ for the practical side of paying for things.

If you’d rather absorb food vocabulary hands-on than from a table, the Bosnian cooking class run in a Sarajevo home kitchen has you naming ingredients and dishes as you cook them, which sticks better than memorising a list. A walk through the city’s traditional residential mahala neighbourhoods with a local guide on the Sarajevo mahala neighbourhoods hike is another good setting to hear everyday Bosnian in context, away from the more touristed centre.

And travellers combining Sarajevo with a day in Herzegovina will hear the same language with a slightly different accent and cadence on the day trip from Sarajevo to Mostar and Herzegovina with lunch, which is a genuinely pleasant way to notice the regional variation without it ever becoming a barrier.

Getting the basics right before you land

None of this requires study. Bosnia and Herzegovina sits outside the EU, the eurozone and Schengen, so the visa and entry side of the trip is worth a look regardless of language - the /guides/bosnia-visa-and-entry-rules/ covers who needs what. Once you’re in Sarajevo, the language question mostly answers itself: English carries you through the city centre, a German phrase or two is a useful backup, and the ten Bosnian words above are enough to be warm rather than merely functional. For the rest of the planning list, from where to stay to how many days to give the city, the /guides/sarajevo-trip-planning/ guide is the wider companion to this one.

Bosnian phrases and language questions, answered

Is Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian really the same language?

Linguistically, yes: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are one mutually intelligible language with three official standard names, shaped by recent political history rather than deep grammatical difference. Vocabulary and pronunciation vary a little from country to country, the way British and American English do, but a Sarajevan, a Zagreb local and a Belgrade local understand each other without translation.

Do I need to learn Cyrillic to travel around Sarajevo?

No. Sarajevo and the wider Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina use the Latin alphabet for menus, street signs and shopfronts. Cyrillic becomes dominant once you cross into Republika Srpska - on a day trip to Višegrad or Trebinje, for instance - so recognising a handful of Cyrillic letters is useful there, not in the capital.

Is English enough to get around Sarajevo?

For most visitors, yes. English is spoken confidently by people under roughly 40 in hotels, cafés, museums and tour offices, and menus in the centre are usually bilingual. Older residents and staff at some family-run kitchens or village guesthouses on day trips are less likely to speak it, which is where a few courtesy phrases help.

What language should I use bargaining in Baščaršija?

English works for the transaction itself in most Baščaršija workshops and stalls, and copper and jewellery sellers who deal with tourists daily are used to it. A greeting in Bosnian before you start looking is simply good manners and often gets a warmer response, but it changes the tone, not the price.

Are street signs and menus in Sarajevo in Cyrillic?

No. In Sarajevo and throughout the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signage, menus and official documents are printed in the Latin alphabet. You will see Cyrillic used consistently only after crossing into Republika Srpska, including at the separate Istočno Sarajevo bus station on the edge of the city.

Is German or Turkish useful in Sarajevo?

Both help in specific pockets. German is common among older Sarajevans and people connected to the large Bosnian diaspora in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, so it can be a useful backup with an older shopkeeper. Turkish and Arabic are heard often around Baščaršija, reflecting both Ottoman-era ties and current Gulf and Turkish tourism, but neither is needed to get by.