Nekada sam živeo ovde.

to be

Breakdown of Nekada sam živeo ovde.

• ovde: here
• živeti: to live
• nekada: once; formerly

Questions & Answers about Nekada sam živeo ovde.

Why is there no word for I in this sentence?

Serbian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

In sam živeo, the word sam already shows that the subject is I because it is the 1st person singular form of the auxiliary biti (to be) used in the past tense.

So:

• sam živeo = I lived
• si živeo = you lived
• je živeo = he lived

You can add ja for emphasis:

• Ja sam nekada živeo ovde. = I used to live here.

But in a neutral sentence, leaving out ja is completely normal.

How is the past tense built in sam živeo?

This is the standard Serbian past tense, formed with:

• the present tense of biti (to be)
• plus the past active participle

So here:

• sam = am / 1st person singular auxiliary
• živeo = past participle of živeti (to live)

Together:

• sam živeo = I lived / I used to live

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