U centru je veliki saobraćaj svako jutro.

to be

Breakdown of U centru je veliki saobraćaj svako jutro.

• u: in
• svaki: every
• jutro: morning

Questions & Answers about U centru je veliki saobraćaj svako jutro.

Why is it u centru and not u centar?

Because u can take two different cases:

• accusative for movement to/into somewhere: u centar = to the center
• locative for being in a place: u centru = in the center

In this sentence, there is no movement. It describes where the traffic is, so Serbian uses the locative: u centru.

What case is centru?

Centru is the locative singular of centar.

The noun changes like this:

• nominative: centar
• locative: centru

After u when it means in, the locative is used, so u centru means in the center / downtown.

Why is it je veliki saobraćaj?

This is a normal Serbian way to say that something is present somewhere.

Literally, the structure is close to:

• U centru je veliki saobraćaj.
• In the center is heavy traffic.

English usually prefers There is heavy traffic downtown, but Serbian can simply use je with the noun phrase.

So je agrees with saobraćaj, which is singular.

Why is it veliki and not or ?