Questions & Answers about Slavljenik ne zna tajnu.
What does slavljenik mean exactly? Is it specifically a birthday person?
Slavljenik means the person being celebrated or the celebrant. In everyday Serbian, it is very often used for the birthday person, but it can also be used more generally for someone whose special occasion is being celebrated.
It is a masculine noun. The usual feminine form is slavljenica.
What case is slavljenik in?
Slavljenik is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.
In other words:
- slavljenik = the person doing the action
- tajnu = the thing affected by the action
So Serbian marks:
- subject → nominative
- direct object → usually accusative
Why is it tajnu and not tajna?
Because tajnu is the accusative singular form of tajna.
The noun tajna means secret, and in this sentence it is the direct object of zna (knows), so Serbian uses the accusative form:
- tajna = nominative singular
- tajnu = accusative singular
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