Završila sam rad.

I finished the work.

Breakdown of Završila sam rad.

• biti: to be
• završiti: to finish
• rad: work or labour

Questions & Answers about Završila sam rad.

Why does završila end in -la?

Because the verb form agrees with the speaker’s gender in the past tense.

In Serbian, the past tense uses a special participle that changes for gender and number:

• završio sam = I finished (male speaker)
• završila sam = I finished (female speaker)

So Završila sam rad. is what a female speaker says.

What is the role of sam here?

sam is the 1st person singular present tense of biti (to be), and it helps form the Serbian past tense.

So the structure is:

• završila = past participle
• sam = auxiliary am

Together, they mean I finished / I have finished.

This is the normal way Serbian forms the past tense.

Why is it Završila sam, not Sam završila?

Because sam is a clitic. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So in:

• Završila sam rad.

the first element is završila, and sam comes right after it.

You would not normally say: