Questions & Answers about Potrošili smo novac.
Yes. Potrošili smo is the Serbian past tense.
It is built from:
- potrošili = the past participle of potrošiti
- smo = we are, used here as an auxiliary
So literally it is something like spent + we-have/we-are, but in normal English you simply translate it as we spent or we have spent, depending on context.
Because potrošiti is a perfective verb, the sentence usually suggests a completed action: We spent the money / We have spent the money.
In Serbian, the subject pronoun is often left out because the verb already shows who is doing the action.
Here, smo tells you it is we.
So:
- Potrošili smo novac. = We spent the money.
- Mi smo potrošili novac. also means We spent the money, but mi adds emphasis, like we in particular.
Serbian does this very often, so leaving out mi is completely normal.
This is because is a in Serbian. Clitics usually go in the of the sentence or clause.