Brašno je u kesi.

to be

Breakdown of Brašno je u kesi.

• u: in
• kesa: shopping bag
• brašno: flour

Questions & Answers about Brašno je u kesi.

What does each word in Brašno je u kesi do grammatically?

• brašno = flour; it is the subject of the sentence
• je = is; the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be)
• u = in
• kesi = bag in the locative singular

So the structure is basically:

brašno + je + u kesi
the flour + is + in the bag

Why is it u kesi and not u kesa?

Because the preposition u means different things depending on whether it shows:

• location → it takes the locative
• movement into something → it takes the accusative

Here the sentence describes where the flour is, so Serbian uses the locative:

• kesa = nominative singular
• kesi = locative singular

So:

• Brašno je u kesi. = The flour is in the bag.
• Stavljam brašno u kesu. = I am putting the flour into the bag.

Notice the change:

• u kesi = in the bag
• u kesu = into the bag