Odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

to be

Breakdown of Odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

• novac: money
• za: for
• rezerva: a reserve

Questions & Answers about Odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

What does Odvojili smo novac za rezervu literally mean word by word?

A very literal breakdown is:

• odvojili = separated / set aside
• smo = we are / we have here functioning as the auxiliary for the past tense
• novac = money
• za rezervu = for a reserve / for backup / for an emergency fund

So the sentence means something like We set aside money for a reserve.

In natural English, depending on context, you might also translate it as:

• We put some money aside for emergencies.
• We set aside money as a reserve.

Why is it odvojili smo, not smo odvojili?

This is about Serbian word order, especially the position of short unstressed words called clitics.

The word smo is a clitic, and clitics usually come in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So in:

• Odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

the first element is Odvojili, and smo comes right after it.

You can also hear or see:

• Mi smo odvojili novac za rezervu.

Here mi is the first element, so smo comes after mi.

English speakers often expect we have set aside, with the auxiliary first, but Serbian handles this differently.