Uprkos manjem prihodu, odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

to be

Breakdown of Uprkos manjem prihodu, odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

• mali: small
• novac: money
• za: for

Questions & Answers about Uprkos manjem prihodu, odvojili smo novac za rezervu.

Why is it uprkos manjem prihodu? What case is manjem prihodu?

Because uprkos means despite / in spite of, and it normally takes the dative case.

So here:

• prihod → prihodu = dative singular
• manji → manjem = dative singular, agreeing with prihodu

So uprkos manjem prihodu means despite the smaller/lower income.

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Why is it manjem and not malom?

Manjem comes from manji, which is the comparative form of mali.

• mali = small
• manji = smaller

So:

• malom prihodu = to/with a small income
• manjem prihodu = to/with a smaller income

In this sentence, the idea is lower/smaller income, not just small income, so manjem is the right choice.

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What tense is odvojili smo?

It is the perfect tense, the usual past tense in Serbian.

It is built from:

• the past participle: odvojili
• the auxiliary in the present: