Imala sam dobar san.

to be

Breakdown of Imala sam dobar san.

• dobar: good
• imati: to have
• san: a dream

Questions & Answers about Imala sam dobar san.

What does imala sam mean, and how is it formed?

Imala sam means I had.

It is the Serbian past tense, built from:

• imala = the past participle of imati (to have), feminine singular
• sam = the short form of to be used with I

So Serbian past tense often works like:

• imala sam = I had
• imao sam = I had (said by a man)

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Why is it imala, not imao?

Because the speaker is feminine.

In Serbian, the past participle agrees with the gender of the speaker:

• imala sam = said by a woman
• imao sam = said by a man

This is very common in Serbian past tense, so you often learn the speaker’s gender from the verb form.

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Why is there no ja for I?

Because Serbian usually leaves subject pronouns out when they are already clear from the verb.

So:

• Imala sam dobar san. = I had a good dream / sleep.
• Ja sam imala dobar san. = also correct, but ja adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity

English needs I, but Serbian often does not.