Ovaj telefon je skup, ali on nije dobar.

to be

Breakdown of Ovaj telefon je skup, ali on nije dobar.

• dobar: good
• ne: not
• ali: but

Questions & Answers about Ovaj telefon je skup, ali on nije dobar.

Why isn’t there a word for the in this sentence?

Serbian does not have articles like the and a/an. So telefon can mean phone, a phone, or the phone, depending on context.

In this sentence, ovaj already makes it specific, so ovaj telefon means this phone.

What exactly does ovaj mean, and why is it ovaj?

Ovaj means this.

It appears as ovaj because it must agree with telefon in:

• gender: masculine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

Since telefon is a masculine singular noun and it is the subject here, ovaj is the matching form.

Why is the sentence ovaj telefon je skup and not just ovaj telefon skup?

Because Serbian normally uses the verb biti (to be) in sentences like this.

So:

• je = is
• ovaj telefon je skup = this phone is expensive

Unlike some other Slavic languages, Serbian usually keeps the present-tense copula in standard sentences of this type.

Why are skup and dobar in that form?