Kiša je prestala.

to be

Breakdown of Kiša je prestala.

• kiša: rain
• prestati: to stop doing something

Questions & Answers about Kiša je prestala.

Why is there je in Kiša je prestala?

Because Serbian is using the past tense called the perfect here.

The pattern is:

• je = the present-tense auxiliary to be (is/has)
• prestala = the past participle of prestati (to stop, to cease)

So Kiša je prestala literally works like The rain has stopped, although in natural English it is often simply translated as The rain stopped.

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Why is it prestala and not prestao or prestalo?

Because kiša is a feminine singular noun in Serbian.

In the Serbian perfect tense, the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• masculine singular: prestao
• feminine singular: prestala
• neuter singular: prestalo
• plural: prestali / prestale / prestala depending on gender

Since kiša is feminine, you say:

• Kiša je prestala.

Not:

• Kiša je prestao.
• Kiša je prestalo.

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Is kiša really feminine, even though rain is not biologically female?