dovoljno

Dovoljno is a word used in Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian to express sufficiency or adequacy. As an adverb, it means “enough” or “to a sufficient degree” and is used in sentences such as “Dovoljno je vremena” (There is enough time) or “Imam dovoljno novca” (I have enough money). With negation, it forms phrases like “nije dovoljno” to indicate that something is not enough.

As an adjective, the forms dovoljan (masculine), dovoljna (feminine), and dovoljno (neuter) exist and are used before a noun to denote sufficiency. For example: “dovoljan broj učenika” (a sufficient number of students) and “dovoljna količina hrane” (a sufficient amount of food).

Etymology and cognates: the word originates in the Slavic family, from a root conveying the idea of satisfying or meeting a need. Related forms appear in other South Slavic languages, and similar terms exist in everyday speech across the region, such as Slovenian dovolj (enough).

Usage notes: there is also a noun form, dovolјnost or dovoljnost in some varieties, meaning sufficiency or adequacy, though it is less common in casual speech. In practice, dovoljno as an adverb and the adjective forms dovoljan/dovoljna/dovoljno cover most needs, with synonyms such as dosta used in colloquial contexts.