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Questions & Answers about Sada zovem advokata.
Why is it advokata and not advokat?
Because advokata is in the accusative case, which is used here for the direct object of the verb zovem.
- advokat = lawyer in the dictionary form, called the nominative
- zovem advokata = I’m calling the lawyer
For masculine animate nouns in singular, the accusative usually changes:
- nominative: advokat
- accusative: advokata
This is a very important pattern in Serbian:
- Vidim čoveka. = I see the man.
- Zovem prijatelja. = I’m calling a friend / my friend.
- Zovem advokata. = I’m calling a lawyer / the lawyer.
What form is zovem?
Zovem is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb zvati.
So:
- zvati = to call
- zovem = I call / I am calling
The subject I is built into the verb ending, so Serbian usually does not need the pronoun ja.
Why doesn’t the sentence include ja for I?