Learn Hardcore Serbian: Treba mi pola kilograma sira. - I need half a kilogram of cheese.

Breakdown of Treba mi pola kilograma sira.

What does Treba mi mean here?

Treba mi means I need.

Literally, Serbian expresses this idea a bit differently from English. It is closer to It is needed to me:

So Treba mi pola kilograma sira is the natural Serbian way to say I need half a kilo of cheese.

Why is it treba and not a form that clearly means I need?

Because Serbian often uses trebati impersonally in this meaning.

So instead of matching the verb directly to I, Serbian commonly says:

The verb stays in the neutral-looking 3rd person singular form treba, and the person is shown by the dative pronoun:

This is one of the most important patterns to learn for everyday Serbian.

What is mi, and what case is it?

Mi is the dative clitic form of ja.

Here it means .