Pobedila sam protivnika.

to be

Breakdown of Pobedila sam protivnika.

• protivnik: an opponent
• pobediti: to win

Questions & Answers about Pobedila sam protivnika.

Why does pobedila end in -la?

Because the speaker is female.

In Serbian past tense, the main verb agrees with the subject's gender and number. So:

• pobedila sam = I (female) defeated
• pobedio sam = I (male) defeated

This is one of the first things English speakers notice, since English past tense does not show the speaker's gender.

What is sam, and why is it there?

Sam is the 1st person singular auxiliary form of biti (to be) used to form the past tense.

So the past tense here is built like this:

• pobedila = past participle
• sam = auxiliary am

Together:

• pobedila sam = I defeated / I beat

This is the normal Serbian past tense pattern.

Why is sam after pobedila, not before it?

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

So Serbian often prefers:

• Pobedila sam protivnika.

If you add ja, then the clitic usually comes after that first element: