Questions & Answers about Da li voz kasni, ili stiže rano?
What does da li do in this sentence?
Da li is a very common way to form a yes/no question in Serbian. It does not have a neat one-word English equivalent; it simply turns the statement into something like Is the train late? or Does the train run late?
So Da li voz kasni? = Is the train late?
Could I also say Da li kasni voz? or Kasni li voz?
Yes. Serbian word order is fairly flexible.
- Da li voz kasni? = neutral and very common
- Da li kasni voz? = also correct, with a slightly different focus or rhythm
- Kasni li voz? = correct, but more formal or bookish
For everyday speech, Da li voz kasni? is one of the most natural choices.
What case is voz, and why is it in that form?
Voz is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence: the train is the thing that is late or arrives early.
Also, Serbian has no articles, so voz can mean the train or a train, depending on context.
What exactly does kasni mean here?