On je prijatelj.

to be

Breakdown of On je prijatelj.

• on: he
• prijatelj: friend

Questions & Answers about On je prijatelj.

What does each word in On je prijatelj. mean?

• On = he
• je = is
• prijatelj = friend

So the sentence means He is a friend.

Grammatically, the structure is very close to English:

• subject: on
• verb: je
• noun complement: prijatelj

Why is there no word for a in Serbian?

Serbian does not have articles like a/an or the.

So:

• prijatelj can mean a friend or the friend
• the exact meaning depends on context

In this sentence, English naturally translates it as He is a friend, even though Serbian just says He is friend literally.

What exactly is je?

Je is the 3rd person singular present-tense form of biti, which means to be.

So:

• ja sam = I am
• ti si = you are
• on/ona/ono je = he/she/it is

In On je prijatelj., is simply .