Questions & Answers about Kesa je u kolicima.
What case is kesa, and why is it in that form?
Kesa is nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence, so Serbian uses the nominative here.
A useful comparison:
- Kesa je u kolicima. = The bag is in the stroller/cart.
- Vidim kesu. = I see the bag.
In the second sentence, kesu is the direct object, so it changes form.
Also, kesa is a feminine noun, which is why its dictionary form ends in -a.
What does je do here, and why is it placed after kesa?
Je is the 3rd person singular present of biti (to be), so here it means is.
In Serbian, je is a clitic, which means it usually goes in the second position of the sentence or clause.
So:
- Kesa je u kolicima. = normal order
- U kolicima je kesa. = also possible, with different emphasis
It is not always literally the second word, but it normally comes after the first unit of the sentence.
Why is it u kolicima? What case is kolicima?
Here u means in, expressing location, so it takes the .