Pusti saigrača da igra.

that

Breakdown of Pusti saigrača da igra.

• igrati: to play a game
• saigrač: a teammate
• pustiti: to let, release, or put on

Questions & Answers about Pusti saigrača da igra.

What form is pusti?

Pusti is the 2nd person singular imperative of pustiti. In this sentence, it means let / allow.

So the speaker is giving a command to one person, informally:

• Pusti saigrača da igra. = Let the teammate play.

If you were speaking to more than one person, or using formal you, you would say:

• Pustite saigrača da igra.

Why is it saigrača and not saigrač?

Because saigrača is in the accusative singular.

The noun saigrač means teammate. Since it is a masculine animate noun, its accusative singular looks like the genitive singular:

• nominative: saigrač
• accusative: saigrača

It is accusative because it is the direct object of pusti:

• you are letting whom? → saigrača

Even though the teammate is the one who will do the playing, grammatically he is still the object of pusti.

Why does Serbian use da igra here instead of an infinitive like to play?

Because Serbian very often uses da + present tense where English uses an infinitive.