Juče sam ušla u poštu, ali sam odmah izašla, jer je bio veliki red.

Yesterday I went into the post office, but I went out immediately, because there was a big line.

Breakdown of Juče sam ušla u poštu, ali sam odmah izašla, jer je bio veliki red.

• biti: to be
• velik: big
• ali: but
• juče: yesterday

Questions & Answers about Juče sam ušla u poštu, ali sam odmah izašla, jer je bio veliki red.

Why is there no ja in the sentence?

Because Serbian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed for emphasis.

In sam ušla and sam izašla, the verb already shows I through sam. So ja would usually be added only for contrast or emphasis, for example:

• Ja sam ušla, ali on nije.
• Ja sam odmah izašla.

In a neutral sentence, leaving out ja sounds natural.

What tense is sam ušla / sam izašla?

This is the perfect tense, which is the normal past tense in everyday Serbian.

It is formed with:

• the auxiliary sam = am
• plus the past participle: ušla, izašla

So:

• sam ušla = I entered / I went in
• sam izašla = I went out / I left

This is the standard way to talk about completed past events in Serbian.

Why are the forms ušla and izašla feminine?

Because the speaker is female.

In Serbian, the past participle agrees with the gender and number of the subject. So a woman says:

• ušla sam
• izašla sam