Zaposleni razume šalu.

to understand

Breakdown of Zaposleni razume šalu.

• zaposleni: an employee
• šala: a joke

Questions & Answers about Zaposleni razume šalu.

Why is zaposleni translated as the employee here?

In this sentence, zaposleni is being used as a noun, meaning employee or employed person.

A helpful thing to know is that zaposlen is originally an adjective meaning employed, but Serbian often uses adjective forms like nouns when the meaning is clear.

So:

• zaposlen = employed
• zaposleni = the employee / an employee

In this sentence, it is masculine singular nominative, because it is the subject of the sentence.

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Why does šala become šalu?

Because šalu is in the accusative case.

The verb razumeti / razumeti (to understand) takes a direct object, and in Serbian direct objects are often put in the accusative.

So:

• šala = joke (dictionary form, nominative)
• šalu = joke (accusative, used as the object)

In Zaposleni razume šalu, the employee is doing the understanding, and the joke is what is being understood, so šala changes to šalu.

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What form is razume?