Šapućemo da bi slavljenik čuo samo muziku.

music

Breakdown of Šapućemo da bi slavljenik čuo samo muziku.

• samo: only
• čuti: to hear
• slavljenik: the celebrant

Questions & Answers about Šapućemo da bi slavljenik čuo samo muziku.

What does da bi mean here?

Da bi introduces a purpose clause. In English, it usually corresponds to so that or in order that.

So the sentence structure is:

• Šapućemo = we are whispering / we whisper
• da bi slavljenik čuo samo muziku = so that the celebrant would hear only the music

It tells you the goal of the action in the main clause.

Why is čuo used after bi? Is it a past tense form?

It looks past-like, but here it is not functioning as a simple past tense.

Čuo is the l-participle of čuti and, together with bi, it forms the conditional:

• bi čuo = would hear

So in this sentence:

• da bi slavljenik čuo = so that the celebrant would hear

This is a very common pattern in Serbian purpose clauses.

Why is it bi, not bismo, even though šapućemo means we whisper?

Because bi belongs to the subordinate clause, not the main clause.

The subject of the main clause is:

• mi implied in šapućemo = we

But the subject of the clause after is: