Dugo smo čekali.

We waited for a long time.

Breakdown of Dugo smo čekali.

• biti: to be
• čekati: to wait for
• dugo: for a long time

Questions & Answers about Dugo smo čekali.

What does dugo mean here?

Dugo means for a long time or a long time here. It is an adverb, so it describes how long the action lasted.

In Dugo smo čekali, it tells you that the waiting lasted a long time.

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What tense is smo čekali?

This is the perfect tense in Serbian.

It is made with:

• the auxiliary verb biti in the present tense: smo = we are / we have
• the past participle: čekali

So:

• smo čekali = we waited / we have waited

In Serbian, the perfect tense is very common for talking about past actions.

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Why are there two words, smo and čekali, instead of just one word meaning waited?

Because Serbian usually forms the past tense with:

• an auxiliary
• a past participle

So instead of one simple past form like English waited, Serbian says something structurally closer to have waited:

• smo = auxiliary for we
• čekali = past participle of čekati

Together they form the past tense.

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Why is there no word for we, like mi?