Ali ulaz u zgradu je iza pekare.

to be

Breakdown of Ali ulaz u zgradu je iza pekare.

• u: to
• ali: but
• pekara: bakery

Questions & Answers about Ali ulaz u zgradu je iza pekare.

What does ali mean here, and why is it at the beginning?

Ali means but. It is a coordinating conjunction, so it links this sentence to a previous idea and shows contrast.

Putting ali at the beginning is normal, just like English But the entrance....

Why is it ulaz u zgradu? What exactly does that phrase mean grammatically?

Ulaz means entrance. The phrase ulaz u zgradu is literally entrance into the building, but in natural English we usually say the entrance to the building.

Grammatically:

• ulaz = the noun entrance
• u zgradu = a prepositional phrase meaning into/to the building

So Serbian uses u + accusative here to show the goal or direction associated with the entrance.

Why is it zgradu and not zgrada?

Because after u in this kind of expression, Serbian uses the accusative case.

The dictionary form is:

• zgrada = building

Its accusative singular is:

• zgradu

So:

• u zgradu = into/to the building

This is different from:

• = which uses the for location.