Questions & Answers about Nisam spreman sada, ali ću uskoro biti.
What does nisam mean, and how is it built?
Nisam means I am not.
It is the negative present-tense form of biti (to be) for ja (I):
- sam = I am
- nisam = I am not
In Serbian, this negative form is not written as two separate words here. You learn it as a single form:
- ja sam = I am
- ja nisam = I am not
So Nisam spreman sada literally means I am not ready now.
Why is it spreman? Does that depend on who is speaking?
Yes. Spreman is an adjective, and it agrees with the speaker in gender and number.
Here, spreman is the masculine singular form, so it suggests the speaker is male.
Other forms would be:
- spremna = feminine singular
- spremni = masculine personal plural or mixed group
- spremne = feminine plural
So a woman would say:
- Nisam spremna sada, ali ću uskoro biti.
English does not change ready this way, but Serbian adjectives do.
Why is there no ja in the sentence?