Juče sam kupila novine u prodavnici.

in

Breakdown of Juče sam kupila novine u prodavnici.

• prodavnica: store
• juče: yesterday
• kupiti: to buy

Questions & Answers about Juče sam kupila novine u prodavnici.

Why is it sam kupila and not just kupila?

This is the past tense in Serbian. It is normally made with:

• the present tense of biti (to be)
• plus the past active participle

So:

• sam = I am / auxiliary used for I in the past tense
• kupila = bought (feminine singular form)

Together, sam kupila means I bought.

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Why does kupila end in -a?

Because the speaker is female.

In Serbian, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• kupio sam = I bought (male speaker)
• kupila sam = I bought (female speaker)
• kupili smo = we bought (mixed group or all male)
• kupile smo = we bought (all female)

So kupila tells you that the person speaking is a woman.

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Why is the word order Juče sam kupila... and not Juče kupila sam...?