Juče sam kupila kartu za voz.

yesterday

Breakdown of Juče sam kupila kartu za voz.

• kupiti: to buy
• za: for
• voz: train

Questions & Answers about Juče sam kupila kartu za voz.

Why is it sam kupila instead of a single verb meaning bought?

In Serbian, the past tense is usually made with:

• the present tense of biti (to be) as an auxiliary
• plus the past participle

So:

• sam = I am / I have as the auxiliary for I
• kupila = the past participle of kupiti (to buy)

Together, sam kupila means I bought.

This is very normal in Serbian:

• sam kupila = I bought
• si kupila = you bought
• je kupila = she bought

Why is it kupila and not kupio?

Because the form of the past participle shows the speaker’s gender.

• kupila = said by a female speaker
• kupio = said by a male speaker

So:

• Juče sam kupila kartu za voz. = a woman is speaking
• Juče sam kupio kartu za voz. = a man is speaking

This is one of the first things English speakers notice, because English past tense does not change for the speaker’s gender.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?