Većina prijatelja je ovde.

to be

Breakdown of Većina prijatelja je ovde.

• ovde: here
• prijatelj: friend
• većina: the majority

Questions & Answers about Većina prijatelja je ovde.

Why is je singular when prijatelja refers to more than one friend?

Because the grammatical subject here is većina (majority), not prijatelja.

In Serbian, većina is a singular noun, so the verb is usually singular:

• Većina prijatelja je ovde. = The majority of the friends is/are here.

This is similar to English expressions like the majority of the group is..., although English often allows plural agreement too. In standard Serbian, singular agreement with većina is normal.

Why is it prijatelja, not prijatelji?

Because većina is followed by the genitive case.

So:

• prijatelji = nominative plural (friends as the subject)
• prijatelja = genitive plural (of friends)

In this sentence, većina prijatelja literally means the majority of friends.

This pattern is very common in Serbian:

• mnogo ljudi = many people
• nekoliko knjiga = several books
• većina studenata = most / the majority of the students

What exactly does većina mean?

Većina means majority, most, or depending on context.