Tražim ključ, ali ključ nije ovde.

to be

Breakdown of Tražim ključ, ali ključ nije ovde.

• ovde: here
• ne: not
• ali: but

Questions & Answers about Tražim ključ, ali ključ nije ovde.

Why is ključ the same in both parts of the sentence?

Because ključ is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Serbian the accusative singular of masculine inanimate nouns is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So in:

• Tražim ključ = I am looking for the key
• ključ nije ovde = the key is not here

the first ključ is the direct object of tražim, so it is in the accusative. The second ključ is the subject of nije, so it is in the nominative.

Even though the cases are different in function, the form happens to look the same.

Why is there no word for the or a?

Serbian does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So ključ can mean:

• a key
• the key

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English would usually translate it as the key, but Serbian simply uses ključ with no article.

What exactly does tražim mean?

Tražim is the first person singular present tense of tražiti, meaning or .