Questions & Answers about Kada moju sestru boli glava, ona pije mnogo vode.
Why is the sentence built as moju sestru boli glava instead of something like moja sestra ima glavobolju?
Serbian very often uses the verb boleti for physical pain. With this verb, the structure is different from English:
- glava = the thing that hurts
- moju sestru = the person who feels the pain
So the literal structure is closer to the head hurts my sister.
That is why Serbian says moju sestru boli glava rather than copying the English structure my sister has a headache.
You can also say moja sestra ima glavobolju, and that is perfectly understandable, but boli je glava / moju sestru boli glava is very common and natural.
Why is moju sestru in the accusative?
Because with boleti, the person who experiences the pain is usually in the accusative.
So in:
Kada moju sestru boli glava...
- moju sestru = accusative
- it means my sister as the person affected by the pain
This is different from English, where my sister would be the subject. In Serbian, with boleti, the painful body part or condition is treated as the grammatical subject instead.
Why is glava in the nominative, and why is the verb boli singular?