Breakdown of Ako ekran sutra ne bude radio, odneću telefon u prodavnicu.
u
to
raditi
to work
ne
not
prodavnica
store
Questions & Answers about Ako ekran sutra ne bude radio, odneću telefon u prodavnicu.
Why is ne bude radio used here? It looks like past tense to me.
It’s not past tense here. Ne bude radio is future II (also called futur II in Serbian).
In this sentence:
- bude = a form of biti
- radio = the active participle of raditi (to work / function)
Together, bude radio means something like will be working / will work in a conditional or time-dependent future context.
So:
- Ako ekran sutra ne bude radio... = If the screen isn’t working tomorrow...
Even though radio looks like a past form, in this structure it is part of a future construction.
Why can’t I just say Ako ekran sutra neće raditi?
Because after ako when talking about a future condition, Serbian normally uses future II, not future I.
So the standard pattern is:
- Ako + future II, future I
That gives:
- Ako ekran sutra ne bude radio, odneću telefon u prodavnicu.
This is the normal Serbian equivalent of English If the screen doesn’t work tomorrow, I’ll take the phone to the store.
Using neće raditi after ako is generally not the standard choice in this kind of sentence.
What tense is ?