Questions & Answers about Igla i zavoj su spremni.
Why is the verb su and not je?
Because the subject is igla i zavoj — two nouns joined by i (and).
That makes the subject plural, so Serbian uses the 3rd person plural form of biti (to be):
- je = is
- su = are
So:
- Igla je spremna. = The needle is ready.
- Zavoj je spreman. = The bandage is ready.
- Igla i zavoj su spremni. = The needle and the bandage are ready.
Why is spremni used here?
Spremni is the adjective spreman (ready) in the form that agrees with the subject.
In Serbian, adjectives agree with the noun or subject in:
- gender
- number
- and often case
Here, the subject is plural because there are two things, so the adjective must also be plural.
Also, the two nouns are of different genders:
- igla = feminine
- zavoj = masculine
When a plural group includes masculine and feminine nouns together, Serbian normally uses the masculine plural form as the default. That is why the sentence has spremni.
Why not spremne or spremna?