Pre posla moja majka često pere ruke u kupatilu.

Before work, my mother often washes her hands in the bathroom.

Breakdown of Pre posla moja majka često pere ruke u kupatilu.

• u: in
• moj: my
• majka: mother
• posao: work

Questions & Answers about Pre posla moja majka često pere ruke u kupatilu.

Why is it pre posla, not pre posao?

Because the preposition pre meaning before requires the genitive case in Serbian.

• Basic noun: posao = work / job
• Genitive singular: posla

So:

• pre posla = before work

This is a very common pattern:

• pre ručka = before lunch
• pre škole = before school
• pre sastanka = before the meeting

So the important thing to remember is: pre + genitive.

What case is moja majka, and why?

Moja majka is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

• majka = mother
• moja = my

The adjective/pronoun moja agrees with majka in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

So:

• moja majka = my mother as the subject

If the role changed, the form could change too. For example, in another sentence you might see different case forms of majka.

Why is the verb pere and not some other form like pereš or peru?