Breakdown of Kada ulazim u autobus, uvek gledam gde mogu da sedim.
gde
where
moći
can
autobus
bus
uvek
always
Questions & Answers about Kada ulazim u autobus, uvek gledam gde mogu da sedim.
Why is it Kada ulazim and not something like Kad sam ušao?
Because this sentence describes a habitual action: something the speaker does regularly.
- Kada ulazim u autobus = When I get on / when I’m getting on the bus
- It uses the present tense because Serbian often uses the present for repeated, general situations.
If you said Kad sam ušao u autobus, that would refer to one completed past event: When I got on the bus.
So here, ulazim fits because the meaning is something like Whenever I get on a bus, I always...
Why is the verb ulazim in the present tense if the English translation may use when I get on the bus?
Serbian and English do something similar here, but not always in exactly the same way.
In Serbian, the present tense is commonly used for:
- habits
- repeated actions
- general truths
- actions in subordinate time clauses like when
So Kada ulazim u autobus means When(ever) I get on the bus in a general sense, not necessarily right now.
This is not just about the present moment. It is more like:
- Whenever I board a bus
- When I get on a bus
Why is it u autobus? Why does autobus not change to something like autobusu?