Ovo je kuća.

this

Breakdown of Ovo je kuća.

• biti: to be
• kuća: house

Questions & Answers about Ovo je kuća.

Why is ovo used here if kuća is feminine? Shouldn’t it be ova?

This is one of the most common questions.

In Ovo je kuća, ovo does not directly modify kuća the way an adjective would. It means something like this thing here and then the sentence identifies it: This is a house.

So:

• ovo je kuća = this is a house
• ova kuća = this house

When the demonstrative stands by itself before je, Serbian often uses the neuter form ovo in identification sentences, even if the noun that comes later is feminine or masculine.

Compare:

• Ovo je kuća. = This is a house.
• Ova kuća je velika. = This house is big.

What does je mean here?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of biti, the verb to be.

So here:

• ovo = this
• je = is
• kuća = house

That makes Ovo je kuća = This is a house.

A useful thing to know is that je is a clitic, which means it is normally unstressed and tends to appear in the second position of the sentence.