Nigde ne vidim kartu za voz, a danas putujem.

not

Breakdown of Nigde ne vidim kartu za voz, a danas putujem.

• videti: to see
• a: and
• danas: today

Questions & Answers about Nigde ne vidim kartu za voz, a danas putujem.

Why are both nigde and ne used? Isn’t that a double negative?

Yes, from an English point of view it looks like a double negative, but in Serbian this is normal and required. Serbian uses negative concord.

So with a negative word like nigde (nowhere), the verb also has to be negative:

• Nigde ne vidim... = correct
• Nigde vidim... = not correct

A very literal structure is Nowhere I do not see..., but natural English would usually say I can’t see ... anywhere.

What case is kartu, and why isn’t it karta?

Kartu is accusative singular of karta.

It changes because it is the direct object of the verb vidim (I see):

• karta = nominative singular
• kartu = accusative singular

This is a regular pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -a:

• knjiga → knjigu
• torba → torbu
• karta → kartu

Why is it za voz and not some other form of voz?