Breakdown of Još nismo odlučili da li idemo na more ili u selo.
Questions & Answers about Još nismo odlučili da li idemo na more ili u selo.
What does još mean here?
Here još means still / yet.
So Još nismo odlučili = We still haven’t decided or We haven’t decided yet.
A useful thing to notice is that Serbian often uses još where English might use either still or yet, depending on the sentence.
- Još čekam. = I’m still waiting.
- Još nisam gotov. = I’m not finished yet.
In your sentence, još adds the idea that the decision remains unfinished.
Why is it nismo odlučili and not just ne odlučimo or something simpler?
Nismo odlučili is the perfect tense, formed with:
- the present tense of biti (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su)
- plus the past active participle (odlučio, odlučila, odlučili, etc.)
So:
- mi smo odlučili = we decided / we have decided
- mi nismo odlučili = we didn’t decide / we haven’t decided
In this sentence, Serbian uses the perfect because the idea is up to now, the decision has not been made.
The verb is odlučiti (perfective), meaning to make a decision / decide. With negation in this kind of sentence, it often corresponds naturally to English haven’t decided yet.
Why is the negative written as nismo and not ne smo?
In Serbian, the negative form of biti in the present tense is written as one word:
- nisam
- nisi
- nije
- nismo
- niste
- nisu
So you say:
- nismo odlučili not
- ne smo odlučili
This is something you simply need to memorize with biti.
Why is there no word for we in the sentence?
Because Serbian usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person and number.
Here nismo odlučili clearly shows we:
- -smo = we are / we have
- odlučili is plural masculine/mixed form, matching we
So mi is optional. You could say:
- Još nismo odlučili...
- Mi još nismo odlučili...
Both are possible, but the version without mi is very natural.
You would usually add mi only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.
What does da li do in this sentence?
Da li introduces an indirect yes/no question.
So:
- da li idemo na more ili u selo = whether we’re going to the seaside or to the village
In other words, after odlučiti, Serbian commonly uses da li to mean whether.
Compare:
- Ne znam da li dolazi. = I don’t know whether he’s coming.
- Odlučili smo da li idemo. = We decided whether we’re going.
In this sentence, da li connects the idea of deciding with the alternatives.
Could this sentence use hoćemo li instead of da li idemo?
Yes, in some contexts Serbian can use hoćemo li for whether we will, but here da li idemo is very natural.
Compare:
- Još nismo odlučili da li idemo na more ili u selo.
- Još nismo odlučili hoćemo li ići na more ili u selo.
Both can mean roughly the same thing: We still haven’t decided whether we’re going to the seaside or to the village.
The difference is mostly in structure:
- da li idemo uses present tense
- hoćemo li ići uses a future-related construction
In everyday Serbian, the first version is very common and idiomatic.
Why is idemo in the present tense if the decision is about the future?
This is very normal in Serbian. Serbian often uses the present tense to talk about a future event when the future is understood from the context.
So da li idemo literally looks like whether we are going, but in natural English it is often best translated as:
- whether we’re going
- whether we’ll go
This is especially common after verbs like:
- znati = to know
- videti = to see
- odlučiti = to decide
So don’t be surprised that a present-tense form in Serbian can refer to the future.
Why is it na more but u selo? Why two different prepositions?
Because Serbian uses different prepositions depending on the type of place and the way it is conceptualized.
Here:
- na more = literally to the sea / seaside
- u selo = to the village
A good practical rule is:
- u is often used for going into towns, cities, villages, countries, rooms, buildings, etc.
- na is often used with surfaces, events, some institutions, and certain destinations treated as areas or activities
So:
- u selo = to the village
- u grad = to the city
- na more = to the seaside
- na plažu = to the beach
You should learn some of these as natural combinations rather than trying to force one single English-based rule.
Why are more and selo in those forms? What case is that?
Both more and selo are in the accusative case here, because they follow prepositions of motion:
- na more
- u selo
These mean movement toward a destination.
For neuter nouns like more and selo, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular, so the form does not change visibly.
Compare:
- more → nominative singular
- more → accusative singular
- selo → nominative singular
- selo → accusative singular
If you were talking about location rather than movement, Serbian would often use a different case:
- na moru = at the seaside / by the sea
- u selu = in the village
So:
- na more / u selo = motion toward
- na moru / u selu = location
Why is it ili and not some other word?
Ili means or.
In this sentence it connects two alternatives:
- na more
- u selo
So:
- da li idemo na more ili u selo = whether we’re going to the seaside or to the village
It is the normal word for or in this kind of choice.
What is the basic verb here: odlučiti or odlučivati?
The basic verb in this sentence is odlučiti, the perfective verb.
- odlučiti = to decide, to make a decision
- odlučivati = to be deciding, to decide repeatedly / over a period of time
Since the sentence is about the result of reaching a decision, Serbian naturally uses the perfective verb:
- Još nismo odlučili... = We still haven’t decided...
If you used odlučivati, it would suggest the process more than the completed decision, which would sound less natural here.
Why does odlučili end in -i? Does that tell us anything?
Yes. Odlučili is the plural masculine/mixed-gender form of the past active participle.
With we, Serbian chooses the participle form according to the gender of the group:
- odlučili smo = we decided
- used for a mixed group or a group of males
- odlučile smo = we decided
- used if the speakers are all female
So the sentence as written suggests either:
- a mixed group, or
- a group of men, or
- the default plural form in many learning contexts
This is a normal feature of Serbian past forms.
Can the word order change?
Yes, Serbian word order is flexible, although some versions sound more neutral than others.
The most neutral version here is:
- Još nismo odlučili da li idemo na more ili u selo.
But you could also hear:
- Nismo još odlučili da li idemo na more ili u selo.
Both mean essentially the same thing.
The difference is mostly about emphasis and rhythm:
- Još nismo odlučili... emphasizes still
- Nismo još odlučili... emphasizes the negative statement first
Both are natural.
Is this sentence formal or informal?
It is neutral and natural in both speech and writing.
Nothing in it is especially formal or especially casual. It is a standard everyday Serbian sentence.
You could use it:
- in conversation
- in a message
- in normal written Serbian
So it is a very useful model sentence to learn from.
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