Jutros sam čitala poruku.

This morning I read a message.

Breakdown of Jutros sam čitala poruku.

• biti: to be
• čitati: to read
• poruka: message
• jutros: this morning

Questions & Answers about Jutros sam čitala poruku.

Why does čitala end in -la?

Because the past participle agrees with the speaker’s gender.

• čitala = feminine singular
• čitao = masculine singular
• čitalo = neuter singular

So Jutros sam čitala poruku. tells you the speaker is female.

If a man said it, it would be:

Jutros sam čitao poruku.

What tense is this sentence?

This is the Serbian perfect tense.

It is formed with:

• the auxiliary sam (I am / have, in this structure)
• plus the past participle čitala

So:

• sam čitala = I read / I was reading / I have read, depending on context

In Serbian, this is the normal past tense used in everyday speech.

Why is sam in the middle of the sentence instead of after čitala?

Because sam is a clitic, and clitics in Serbian usually go in second position in the sentence or clause.

So in:

Jutros sam čitala poruku.

• Jutros comes first
• sam comes second

This is very natural Serbian word order.

You would not normally say: