Ako ne završiš danas, možeš da pokušaš ponovo sutra.

not

Breakdown of Ako ne završiš danas, možeš da pokušaš ponovo sutra.

• danas: today
• sutra: tomorrow
• moći: can

Questions & Answers about Ako ne završiš danas, možeš da pokušaš ponovo sutra.

Why is završiš in the present tense, even though the meaning is about the future?

This is very normal in Serbian.

After ako (if), Serbian often uses the present tense to talk about a future possibility:

• Ako ne završiš danas... = If you don't finish today...

So even though završiš is formally present tense, the whole clause refers to a possible future situation.

Also, završiš is a perfective present form, and perfective present often points to a completed future action in clauses like this.

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Why is it završiš and not završavaš?

The difference is aspect.

• završiti = to finish, to complete (perfective)
• završavati = to be finishing / to finish repeatedly (imperfective)

In this sentence, the idea is completing something by the end of today, so Serbian uses the perfective verb:

• Ako ne završiš danas... = If you don't finish today...

If you said Ako ne završavaš danas, it would sound unnatural here, because it would focus more on the process or habit, not on the completed result.

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Why is ne placed directly before završiš?