Ona želi da mi da haljinu, a ja želim da njoj dam jaknu.

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Breakdown of Ona želi da mi da haljinu, a ja želim da njoj dam jaknu.

• ona: she
• a: and
• želeti: to want

Questions & Answers about Ona želi da mi da haljinu, a ja želim da njoj dam jaknu.

Why is da used after želi / želim instead of an infinitive?

In Serbian, after verbs like želeti (to want), it is very common to use da + present tense instead of an infinitive.

So:

• želi da da = she wants to give
• želim da dam = I want to give

This is one of the most important patterns in Serbian. English uses to give, but Serbian usually uses da plus a present-tense verb.

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Why does da seem to appear twice in Ona želi da mi da haljinu?

Because these are two different words that just happen to look the same.

In želi da mi da:

• the first da is a conjunction meaning something like to / that
• the second da is the verb gives

So the structure is:

• želi = wants
• da = to
• mi = to me
• da = give / gives

The second da is the 3rd person singular present form of dati (to give).

That is why the sentence can look strange at first, but it is completely normal Serbian.

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Why is it mi in the first clause, but njoj in the second?