Most je blizu reke.

to be

Breakdown of Most je blizu reke.

• blizu: near
• most: bridge
• reka: river

Questions & Answers about Most je blizu reke.

Why is it reke and not reka?

Because blizu requires the genitive case.

The base form of river is reka. But after blizu (near), Serbian normally uses the genitive:

• reka = river
• reke = of the river / river in the genitive

So:

• blizu reke = near the river

This is one of those patterns you simply learn with the word blizu.

What case is most, and why?

Most is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Most je blizu reke:

• Most = the bridge
• je = is
• blizu reke = near the river

Since the bridge is the thing being talked about, it stays in the nominative.

What exactly is je here?

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

So it means is.

The verb biti in the present tense is:

• sam = I am
• si = you are
• je = he/she/it is
• smo = we are
• ste = you are
• su = they are

In this sentence, most is singular, so Serbian uses je.