Večera počinje u osam sati.

dinner

Breakdown of Večera počinje u osam sati.

• počinjati: to start
• u: at
• osam: eight

Questions & Answers about Večera počinje u osam sati.

Why is večera in this form?

Večera is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular.

It is the noun večera, meaning dinner / supper.
Because it is a feminine noun ending in -a, its nominative singular form is večera.

A useful comparison:

• večera = nominative, dinner as the subject
• večeru = accusative, used when dinner is the object

So here, Večera počinje... literally means Dinner begins...

Is večera only a noun, or can it also be a verb form?

It can actually be both, which can confuse learners.

• večera as a noun = dinner
• večera as a verb form = he/she is having dinner from večerati

In this sentence, though, it is clearly a noun, because the main verb is počinje.

So the structure is:

• večera = subject
• počinje = verb

Why is the verb počinje in the present tense if the sentence talks about a future event?

Serbian often uses the present form for events that are or , especially when the time is clearly stated.