Cilj je uštedeti novac.

to be

Breakdown of Cilj je uštedeti novac.

• novac: money
• cilj: a goal
• uštedeti: to save money

Questions & Answers about Cilj je uštedeti novac.

Why is there no word for the in Cilj je uštedeti novac?

Serbian does not have articles like the or a/an. So cilj can mean goal or the goal, depending on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the: The goal is to save money. Serbian simply says Cilj je...

What is je doing in the sentence?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of biti, meaning to be. Here it works just like is in English.

So:

• cilj = goal
• je = is
• uštedeti novac = to save money

Literally: Goal is to save money.

Why is uštedeti in the infinitive form?

Because Serbian often uses the infinitive after expressions like cilj je... to say what the goal, plan, or intention is.

So Cilj je uštedeti novac means:

• The goal is to save money

This is very similar to English, where to save is also an infinitive.

Why is it uštedeti and not štedeti?