Danas sam srećna.

to be

Breakdown of Danas sam srećna.

• danas: today
• srećan: happy

Questions & Answers about Danas sam srećna.

Why is sam used here?

Sam is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be), so it means am.

In Danas sam srećna, the structure is:

• Danas = today
• sam = am
• srećna = happy

So this sentence literally follows the pattern Today am happy, which in natural English is I am happy today or Today I am happy.

Serbian often leaves out the subject pronoun ja (I) because the verb form sam already shows who the subject is.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

In Serbian, subject pronouns are often omitted when they are clear from the verb.

Here, sam already tells you the subject is I, so ja is not necessary.

You could say:

• Ja sam srećna. = I am happy.

But in many situations, Serbian prefers the shorter version:

• Sam srećna.
• Danas sam srećna.

Adding ja can give emphasis, like I am happy today.

Why is it srećna and not srećan?