Moja sestra nigde ne može da nađe telefon.

not

Breakdown of Moja sestra nigde ne može da nađe telefon.

• moj: my
• sestra: sister
• telefon: phone

Questions & Answers about Moja sestra nigde ne može da nađe telefon.

Why is it moja sestra and not just sestra?

Moja means my. It agrees with sestra in gender, number, and case.

• moja = feminine singular
• sestra = sister, feminine singular

So moja sestra means my sister.

In Serbian, possessive words like moj, tvoj, njegov, njen change form depending on the noun:

• moj brat = my brother
• moja sestra = my sister
• moje dete = my child

You can sometimes omit moja if the context already makes it clear whose sister you mean, but here it is explicitly stated.

What does nigde mean, and why is it used with ne?

Nigde means nowhere.

In Serbian, negative words like nigde usually appear together with a negative verb. This is called negative concord. So Serbian says, literally:

• nigde ne može = can nowhere / cannot find anywhere

This is normal Serbian grammar. English usually uses only one negative idea in the clause:

• She can’t find the phone anywhere
• or She can find the phone nowhere (less natural in everyday English)

But in Serbian, nigde and ne može naturally go together.

Other examples:

• = I don’t see anyone.