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Learn Hardcore Serbian: Podnosilac drži uplatnicu. - The applicant is holding the payment slip.

Hardcore Serbian
/Renewing a driver's licence online
/Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

The applicant is holding the payment slip.

Breakdown of Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

an applicant; submitter

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Questions & Answers about Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

Why is uplatnica written as uplatnicu in this sentence?

Because uplatnicu is the accusative singular form of uplatnica.

Here it is the direct object of the verb drži, so Serbian changes the noun ending:

uplatnica = nominative singular
uplatnicu = accusative singular

This is very common with feminine nouns ending in -a:

knjiga → knjigu
olovka → olovku
uplatnica → uplatnicu

So drži uplatnicu literally follows the pattern holds + direct object.

What case is podnosilac, and why does it stay the same?

Podnosilac is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence, the person doing the action.

That is why it appears in its basic dictionary form:

podnosilac = the applicant / submitter

It does not change here because the subject is in the nominative.

A useful contrast:

Podnosilac drži uplatnicu. = The applicant holds the payment slip.
If podnosilac were the object, it would change because it is a masculine animate noun:
- Vidim podnosioca. = I see the applicant.

What form is drži?

Drži is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb držati.

So:

ja držim = I hold
ti držiš = you hold
on/ona drži = he/she holds

Because podnosilac is singular, the verb is also singular:

Podnosilac drži... = The applicant holds...

Can drži mean both holds and is holding?

Yes. In Serbian, the present tense often covers both ideas.

So Podnosilac drži uplatnicu can mean:

The applicant holds the payment slip
The applicant is holding the payment slip

The exact English translation depends on context. Serbian does not require a separate continuous form like English does.

Does drži only mean physically holding something?

Not always. Držati is a very common verb with several meanings, including:

to hold physically
to keep
to maintain
to hold an event or meeting

But in this sentence, the most natural meaning is the physical one: the applicant has the payment slip in their hand or is holding onto it.

Why is there no word for the or a?

Because Serbian does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So podnosilac can mean:

an applicant
the applicant

And uplatnicu can mean:

a payment slip
the payment slip

Context tells you which one is meant. In an isolated example, English often uses the, but Serbian itself does not mark that difference with an article.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English because case endings show what each noun is doing.

The neutral order here is:

Podnosilac drži uplatnicu.

But you could also say:

Uplatnicu drži podnosilac.

That still means basically the same thing, but the emphasis changes. Starting with uplatnicu gives more focus to the payment slip.

So the original sentence is the most neutral, straightforward version.

Why does podnosilac end in -ac? Is that a common noun pattern?

Yes. -ac is a common ending for masculine nouns referring to a person, often someone connected with an action or role.

So podnosilac is related to the idea of submitting / filing something, and means applicant, submitter, or person who files something depending on context.

You do not need to break it apart when learning the sentence, but it helps to know that Serbian often forms person-nouns this way.

Is podnosilac masculine? Can it still refer to a woman?

Grammatically, podnosilac is a masculine noun.

In formal and administrative language, masculine forms are often used as general labels for roles, so podnosilac may refer to a person regardless of sex, depending on context.

So:

grammatically: masculine
real-world reference: could be male or female, especially in official language

This is common in Serbian and in many other Slavic languages.

How are ž and c pronounced in this sentence?

Two letters often catch English speakers here:

ž is pronounced like the s in measure
c is pronounced like ts in cats

So roughly:

drži sounds like dr-zhi
podnosilac ends with -lats
uplatnicu contains -ts- because of c

Also, Serbian spelling is very phonetic, so words are usually pronounced much more closely to how they are written than in English.

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