Gde je moj telefon?

to be

Breakdown of Gde je moj telefon?

• gde: where
• moj: my
• telefon: phone

Questions & Answers about Gde je moj telefon?

Why is it moj and not moja or moje?

Because telefon is a masculine singular noun in Serbian.

Possessive words like moj must agree with the noun they describe:

• moj = masculine singular
• moja = feminine singular
• moje = neuter singular

So:

• moj telefon = my phone
• moja knjiga = my book
• moje dete = my child

Since telefon is masculine, moj is the correct form.

What is je in this sentence?

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb biti (to be).

So here it means is.

A very literal structure is:

• Gde = where
• je = is
• moj telefon = my phone

So the sentence is built the same basic way as English Where is my phone?

Why does je come right after gde?

This is because je is a clitic in Serbian. Clitics are short, unstressed words that usually like to stand in the second position in a clause.