Čekala sam ceo dan.

to be

Breakdown of Čekala sam ceo dan.

• čekati: to wait
• dan: day
• ceo: whole; entire

Questions & Answers about Čekala sam ceo dan.

Why is it čekala and not čekao?

Because the past participle in Serbian agrees with the speaker’s gender and number.

• čekala = feminine singular
• čekao = masculine singular

So Čekala sam ceo dan. tells you the speaker is female.
A male speaker would say Čekao sam ceo dan.

What does sam do in this sentence?

sam is the 1st person singular present-tense form of biti (to be), and it is used as an auxiliary to form the Serbian past tense.

So:

• čekala = past participle
• sam = auxiliary am

Together, čekala sam means I waited / I was waiting.

Why is there no word for I?

Serbian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

In this sentence, sam already shows first person singular (I), so ja is unnecessary.

• Čekala sam ceo dan. = normal, natural
• Ja sam čekala ceo dan. = also correct, but adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity

So Serbian does not need to say ja every time English uses .