Serbian does not have one preposition meaning English at, another meaning on, and a third meaning in. It first construes time as a point, span, boundary, or interval leading to a result, and then chooses a construction such as у + accusative, током + genitive, or за + accusative.
This page uses contemporary Ekavian Serbian: пре, после, током. Ijekavian Serbian has прије, послије; тијеком/tijekom is Croatian standard rather than the unmarked Serbian form, so Serbian normally uses током. The case frame remains essential whichever standard or variety you encounter.
The core map
| Construction | Temporal relation | Model phrase |
|---|---|---|
| у + accusative | scheduled point | у уторак, у осам сати |
| у + locative | month, year, identified period | у марту, у прошлој години |
| за + accusative | time until a future event; time needed for a result | за десет минута |
| на + accusative | assigned or planned span | на три недеље |
| пре / после + genitive | earlier/later than a reference event | пре састанка, после ручка |
| од / до + genitive | starting and ending boundary | од понедељка до петка |
| током + genitive | within or throughout a containing span | током целе ноћи |
| кроз + accusative | future point after an interval | кроз пола сата |
У chooses a time point—but not one case everywhere
Clock times and weekdays normally use у + accusative. The spatial prototype is a point entered on a schedule: the event is placed at that point.
Аутобус за Златибор полази у четвртак у пола седам ујутру.
The bus to Zlatibor leaves on Thursday at half past six in the morning.
Позови ме у подне, јер пре тога имам два састанка.
Call me at noon, because I have two meetings before then.
Months and named years, however, normally use у + locative: у априлу, у 2027. години, у првој половини године. Here the period is construed as a container within which something happens.
Нови мост би требало да буде отворен у септембру 2027. године.
The new bridge is expected to open in September 2027.
The contrast is not “accusative after motion, locative after rest.” Both phrases locate events in time. Their case choice is conventionalized by the type of time expression, just as spatial у contrasts a destination with a containing location.
Ушла је у салу у осам, а у сали је остала до поднева.
She entered the hall at eight and stayed in the hall until noon.
Spatial у салу is an accusative destination, temporal у осам is a scheduled point, and spatial у сали is a locative setting. This is why memorizing “accusative means motion” or “у means in” cannot predict all three constructions.
За measures the interval to a result
За + accusative looks forward from one point to another. With a future event, it means “in/after this much time.” With a completed event, it gives the time needed to reach the result.
Враћам се за двадесет минута; остави ми кафу на столу.
I'll be back in twenty minutes; leave me some coffee on the table.
Мајстори су заменили све прозоре за један дан.
The workers replaced all the windows in one day.
Compare bare accusative duration. Радили су један дан measures the activity; завршили су посао за један дан measures the interval required for completion. Aspect often reinforces the difference, but the construction itself contributes the temporal viewpoint.
Проверавала је податке два сата, а коначну табелу је средила за још пола сата.
She checked the data for two hours, and finished organizing the final table in another half hour.
Кроз + accusative also points to a later time and is especially clear as “from now/then, after the interval”: кроз десет минута. In many future contexts it overlaps with за, but за additionally has the completion-time use.
Кроз недељу дана добићемо коначне резултате анализе.
A week from now, we'll receive the final analysis results.
На assigns a bounded span
На + accusative presents a period as the planned length of a stay, rental, appointment, loan, or other arrangement. It does not simply translate every English for.
Милица иде у Крагујевац на месец дана због стручне праксе.
Milica is going to Kragujevac for a month for an internship.
Продужили смо уговор на још шест месеци.
We extended the contract for another six months.
Without на, a bare accusative normally just measures duration: Живела је тамо шест месеци “She lived there for six months.” The planned-span meaning is especially natural with verbs of going, staying, renting, borrowing, and extending.
Пре and после establish a reference event
Пре + genitive means earlier than a reference point; после + genitive means later than it. Their original relative-position logic is still visible: an event is placed on one side of another event.
Пре јутарњег тренинга поједи нешто лагано, а после тренинга попиј довољно воде.
Eat something light before morning practice, and drink enough water after practice.
Стигли смо неколико минута после почетка представе.
We arrived a few minutes after the performance began.
The whole noun phrase is genitive: пре важног разговора, после дуге паузе. Ekavian Serbian uses пре, после; Ijekavian Serbian uses прије, послије. Do not mix those reflexes inside one neutral example.
Од and до draw boundaries
Од + genitive marks the beginning of a period, while до + genitive marks its endpoint. Together they form a range.
Читаоница ради од осам ујутру до девет увече.
The reading room is open from eight in the morning until nine in the evening.
Од следеће среде радим у другој смени.
Starting next Wednesday, I'm working the second shift.
Depending on context, English translates од as from or since, and до as until or by. Serbian до петка names Friday as the boundary; it does not by itself guarantee whether Friday is included. If inclusion matters, state it: закључно са петком (formal) “through Friday, inclusive,” or give an exact hour.
Током puts an event inside a span
Током + genitive treats a period as a temporal container. It can mean “during” or, with a totalizing modifier, “throughout.” У току + genitive has the same basic relation and is common in administrative prose.
Током поподневне олује неколико улица је остало без струје.
During the afternoon storm, several streets lost power.
У току наредне недеље добићете писмено обавештење.
During the coming week, you will receive written notification. (formal)
Compare чекали смо цело поподне, which measures how long the waiting lasted, with током целог поподнева, which presents the afternoon as the containing frame. The dedicated pages on accusative time expressions and genitive time expressions develop that contrast.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Duration, result, or planned span?
Explain the three constructions.
Писала је рукопис шест месеци, завршила га је за шест месеци и отишла на шест месеци у иностранство.
She worked on the manuscript for six months, completed it in six months, and went abroad for six months. Answer: bare duration; interval to completion; planned stay.
Task 2: Build the timeline
Identify the starting boundary, containing period, and ending boundary.
Од почетка јуна до краја августа библиотека ће током викенда радити краће.
From the beginning of June until the end of August, the library will have shorter weekend hours. Answer: од + genitive starts the range, до + genitive ends it, and током + genitive contains the recurring schedule.
Common Mistakes
Translating duration for with за
❌ Јуче смо чекали сервисера за три сата.
Incorrect for a three-hour duration — за presents an interval to a result or future point.
✅ Јуче смо чекали сервисера три сата.
Yesterday we waited for the repair technician for three hours.
Using one case after every temporal у
❌ Конференција почиње у октобар.
Incorrect — a month used as a containing period takes locative after у.
✅ Конференција почиње у октобру.
The conference begins in October.
Copying English after without genitive agreement
❌ После дуга пауза наставили смо разговор.
Incorrect — после governs genitive across the whole phrase.
✅ После дуге паузе наставили смо разговор.
After a long break, we continued the conversation.
Key Takeaways
- У + accusative marks many scheduled points; у + locative contains an event within a month or year.
- Bare accusative measures duration; за + accusative leads to a result or future point; на + accusative assigns a planned span.
- Пре, после, од, до, током + genitive place an event relative to a reference point, boundary, or containing interval.
- Learn meanings together with cases instead of translating English at, on, in, and for one word at a time.
Now practice Serbian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Accusative in Time ExpressionsB1 — Durations and 'on/at' time phrases with the accusative.
- Genitive in Time ExpressionsB1 — Dates, parts of the day, and durations in the genitive.
- Genitive after PrepositionsA2 — The large family of prepositions that take the genitive.
- Telling Time and DatesA2 — Asking and saying the time, days, and dates.
- Prepositions and Their CasesA2 — How every preposition assigns a case (sometimes two).
- Adverbs of TimeA2 — Now, then, today, often, already, still, and aspect-sensitive pairs.