Šteta, izgubila sam.

to be

Breakdown of Šteta, izgubila sam.

• izgubiti: to lose
• šteta: a pity; damage

Questions & Answers about Šteta, izgubila sam.

What does šteta mean here?

Here šteta means something like what a pity, too bad, or that’s a shame.

It is very commonly used as a short reaction to something unfortunate. In this sentence, it works almost like an interjection:

• Šteta. = Too bad. / What a pity.

It can also be a noun in other contexts, where it means damage or harm, but in this sentence it is clearly the reaction word.

Why is it izgubila sam and not just one verb?

Serbian past tense is usually formed with:

• a past participle +
• a form of to be

So:

• izgubila = past participle
• sam = I am, used here as the auxiliary have/am part of the past tense

Together:

• izgubila sam = I lost

This is the normal way to build the past tense in Serbian.

Why is it izgubila, specifically?

Because the past participle agrees with the gender of the speaker.

If the speaker is female:

• izgubila sam = I lost

If the speaker is male:

• izgubio sam = I lost

So this sentence tells you that the speaker is female.

What exactly is doing here?