Questions & Answers about Intervju počinje u deset.
What does počinje mean here, exactly?
Počinje means starts or begins.
Grammatically, it is the 3rd person singular present tense form, and it matches the singular subject intervju.
So:
- intervju = interview
- počinje = starts / begins
- u deset = at ten
That is why the whole sentence means The interview starts at ten.
Why is the verb in the present tense if the interview is in the future?
Because Serbian, like English, often uses the present tense for scheduled future events.
Compare English:
- The interview starts at ten.
- not only The interview will start at ten.
Serbian works the same way:
- Intervju počinje u deset. = a normal way to talk about a scheduled event
- Intervju će početi u deset. = also possible, more explicitly future
So the present tense here does not mean it is happening right now. It means this is the planned start time.
Why is it u deset?
For clock times, Serbian normally uses u + a time expression:
- u deset = at ten
- u pet = at five
- = at eight o’clock