Breakdown of Komšija nas čeka ispred zgrade.
čekati
to wait for
ispred
in front of
komšija
male neighbor
nas
us
Questions & Answers about Komšija nas čeka ispred zgrade.
Why does komšija end in -a if it refers to a man?
Because some masculine nouns for male people in Serbian end in -a. Komšija means male neighbor, even though its ending may look feminine to an English learner.
So in this sentence:
- komšija = masculine
- it is in the nominative singular
- it is the subject of the sentence
A feminine form would be komšinica.
Why is it nas and not mi?
Because nas means us, while mi means we.
Here, the neighbor is waiting for us, so the pronoun is the direct object of čeka. That means Serbian uses the accusative form:
- mi = we (subject form, nominative)
- nas = us (object form, accusative)
So:
- Mi čekamo. = We are waiting.
- Komšija nas čeka. = The neighbor is waiting for us.
Why is nas placed before čeka?
That is a very normal Serbian word order. Object pronouns often appear before the verb in neutral sentences.