On je juče otvorio vrata.

he

Breakdown of On je juče otvorio vrata.

• juče: yesterday
• otvoriti: to open
• vrata: door

Questions & Answers about On je juče otvorio vrata.

Why is je used here? Doesn’t otvorio already mean opened?

In Serbian, this sentence is in the perfect tense, which is formed with:

• the auxiliary verb jesam in the present tense
• plus the past participle

So:

• je = has/is as an auxiliary for he/she/it
• otvorio = past participle of otvoriti

Together, je otvorio means opened / has opened in English.

So even though English often uses just opened, Serbian normally needs both parts:

• On je otvorio vrata.

Without je, the sentence would not be standard in this context.

Why does otvorio end in -o?

The ending -o shows that the subject is masculine singular.

The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• on je otvorio = he opened
• ona je otvorila = she opened
• ono je otvorilo = it opened
• oni su otvorili = they opened (masculine/mixed)
• one su otvorile = they opened (feminine)

So otvorio matches on.