Breakdown of Mislim da znam rešenje: moraš da napuniš bateriju.
Questions & Answers about Mislim da znam rešenje: moraš da napuniš bateriju.
In Serbian, after verbs like mislim (I think), znam (I know), želim (I want), and many others, it is very common to use da + present tense instead of an infinitive.
So:
- Mislim da znam rešenje. = I think I know the solution.
This structure is extremely normal in everyday Serbian.
A literal infinitive-style structure like Mislim znati... would sound wrong.
A useful pattern to remember is:
- mislim da... = I think that...
- znam da... = I know that...
- moram da... = I must...
Serbian does have infinitives, but in many common situations, especially in modern speech, da + present is preferred.
This is the same kind of pattern: da + present tense after a modal or similar verb.
- moraš da napuniš = you have to charge
- literally: you must that you charge
In natural English we do not say it that way, but in Serbian this is standard.
So the sentence contains two different da clauses:
- Mislim da znam rešenje = I think that I know the solution
- moraš da napuniš bateriju =