Questions & Answers about Film je bio dobar, ali večera nije bila jeftina.
Why is there no word for the or a in this sentence?
Serbian does not have articles like English the and a/an.
So:
- film can mean a film or the film
- večera can mean a dinner, the dinner, or just dinner
The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English would usually translate it as The film was good, but the dinner wasn't cheap or The movie was good, but dinner wasn't cheap.
What is je doing in Film je bio dobar?
Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be), and here it works as an auxiliary verb to form the past tense.
Serbian past tense is commonly built like this:
- auxiliary of biti
- past participle
So:
- je bio = was for a masculine subject
- nije bila = was not for a feminine subject
In other words:
- Film je bio dobar = The film was good
- Večera nije bila jeftina = The dinner was not cheap