Ja sada ne pijem kafu.

coffee

Breakdown of Ja sada ne pijem kafu.

• ja: I
• sada: now
• piti: to drink

Questions & Answers about Ja sada ne pijem kafu.

Why is ja included here? I thought Serbian often drops subject pronouns.

That’s true: Serbian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb already shows who is doing the action.

• pijem already means I drink / I am drinking
• So Ja sada ne pijem kafu and Sada ne pijem kafu can both be correct

Including ja can:

• add emphasis: I’m not drinking coffee now
• create contrast: I’m not drinking coffee now, but someone else is
• make the sentence sound slightly more explicit

So ja is optional here, not required.

What does sada mean, and where does it go in the sentence?

sada means now.

In this sentence, it shows that the action is true at this moment or currently:

• Ja sada ne pijem kafu = I’m not drinking coffee now

Its position is fairly flexible. You could also hear:

• Sada ne pijem kafu
• Ja ne pijem kafu sada

The version with sada before ne pijem is very natural.

Why is it ne pijem and not one single word?

In Serbian, negation is usually made with the separate word ne placed before the verb.

So: