Zdrav sam kada ne jedem mnogo šećera.

to be

Breakdown of Zdrav sam kada ne jedem mnogo šećera.

• ne: not
• jesti: to eat
• kada: when

Questions & Answers about Zdrav sam kada ne jedem mnogo šećera.

Why is it zdrav and not zdrava or zdravo?

Because zdrav has to agree with the speaker.

• zdrav sam = a male speaker
• zdrava sam = a female speaker

Serbian adjectives agree in gender and number. Since the subject I is understood rather than stated, the adjective still shows whether the speaker is male or female.

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Why is it Zdrav sam and not Sam zdrav?

Because sam is a clitic in Serbian, and clitics usually go in second position in the clause.

So these are natural:

• Zdrav sam
• Ja sam zdrav

But Sam zdrav is not normal standard word order.

This is a very common Serbian pattern:

• Umoran sam
• Srećan sam
• Spreman sam

The clitic sam comes right after the first element.

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What exactly does sam mean here?