Questions & Answers about Kada se budim rano, ustajem i otvaram prozor.
Why does the sentence start with kada? Can I also say kad?
Yes. Kada and kad both mean when.
- kada is the full form
- kad is a shorter, very common form in everyday speech
So these are both natural:
- Kada se budim rano, ustajem i otvaram prozor.
- Kad se budim rano, ustajem i otvaram prozor.
The version with kada may sound a little more neutral or slightly more formal, but both are correct.
Why is it se budim instead of budim se?
The verb is buditi se or, in everyday use here, budim se in the present tense meaning to wake up.
The word se is a clitic, and Serbian clitics often go in the second position in a clause. After kada, it is very natural to say:
- Kada se budim rano...
You can also hear:
- Kada budim se rano...
but that sounds unnatural in standard usage.
So in this sentence, se comes right after kada because Serbian likes clitics early in the clause.
What exactly does se mean here? Is it really myself?
Not literally. In many Serbian verbs, is part of the verb expression and is not translated word-for-word.