Korisnik može da pozajmi publikaciju tek kada se učlani.

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Breakdown of Korisnik može da pozajmi publikaciju tek kada se učlani.

• korisnik: a user; patron
• publikacija: a publication
• pozajmiti: to borrow; lend

Questions & Answers about Korisnik može da pozajmi publikaciju tek kada se učlani.

Why is it može da pozajmi and not just može pozajmiti?

Both are possible in Serbian.

• može da pozajmi
• može pozajmiti

In standard Serbian, after verbs like moći (can, be able to), you can often use either:

• da + present tense
• the infinitive

The da + present structure is very common and natural in everyday Serbian.

So:

• Korisnik može da pozajmi publikaciju
• Korisnik može pozajmiti publikaciju

both mean essentially the same thing.

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Why is the verb pozajmi and not pozajmljuje?

Pozajmi here comes from the perfective verb pozajmiti, while pozajmljuje comes from the imperfective verb pozajmljivati / pozajmljue? More commonly, learners meet the pair as:

• pozajmiti = to borrow/lend once, as a completed action
• pozajmljivati = to borrow/lend repeatedly, habitually, or as an ongoing process

In this sentence, the point is about whether the user is allowed to complete the act of borrowing an item, so the perfective verb fits well.

After može da, Serbian often uses a perfective present form to express a single possible action:

• može da pozajmi = can borrow

This does not mean present time in the English sense. It means the action is possible as a whole.

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What case is publikaciju, and why does it end in -u?