Breakdown of Da li je ova prodavnica otvorena sada, ili je zatvorena?
biti
to be
sada
now
prodavnica
store
da li
do
Questions & Answers about Da li je ova prodavnica otvorena sada, ili je zatvorena?
What does da li mean here?
Da li is a very common way to turn a statement into a yes/no question in Serbian.
So:
- Ova prodavnica je otvorena. = This store is open.
- Da li je ova prodavnica otvorena? = Is this store open?
It does not translate word-for-word very neatly into English. You can think of it as a question marker, similar in function to putting is/are/do/does at the beginning of an English question.
Why is the verb je placed after da li?
Because in this kind of Serbian question, the usual pattern is:
Da li + verb + rest of the sentence
So:
- Da li je ova prodavnica otvorena?
The verb je means is.
This is the normal and natural order for this structure.
Why is je used again after ili?
Because the sentence has two parts joined by ili = or:
- Da li je ova prodavnica otvorena sada
- ili je zatvorena
In English, we also repeat the verb:
- Is this store open now, or is it closed?
So Serbian repeats je for the second clause just like English repeats is.