Umesto da pečemo meso, pečemo pečurke.

meat

Breakdown of Umesto da pečemo meso, pečemo pečurke.

• umesto da: instead of doing
• pečurka: a mushroom
• peći: to bake; roast; grill

Questions & Answers about Umesto da pečemo meso, pečemo pečurke.

What does umesto da mean here?

Umesto da means instead of when it is followed by a whole clause.

So:

• Umesto da pečemo meso = Instead of roasting/grilling meat
• literally, something like instead of that we roast meat

In Serbian, umesto can be followed either by:

• a noun: umesto mesa = instead of meat
• or by da + verb: umesto da pečemo meso = instead of roasting meat

Here the speaker wants to express an alternative action, so da + verb is used.

Why do we get da pečemo after umesto? Why not just an infinitive?

In modern Serbian, when you want to say instead of doing something, it is very common to use umesto da + present tense.

So English instead of roasting meat becomes Serbian:

• umesto da pečemo meso

This is one of the very common jobs of da in Serbian: it introduces a verb phrase where English might use an infinitive or an -ing form.

A learner-friendly way to think about it:

• English often says instead of doing
• Serbian often says umesto da + present-tense verb

What exactly does pečemo mean? Is it , , or ?