Questions & Answers about Ovaj san je bio lep.
What does each word do in Ovaj san je bio lep?
- ovaj = this
- san = dream
- je = the present-tense form is
- bio = been/was in the masculine singular form
- lep = beautiful / nice / lovely
Grammatically, the sentence is built like this:
- Ovaj san = the subject, this dream
- je bio = the past-tense verb phrase, was
- lep = the description, beautiful/nice
So Serbian uses a form that literally looks like is been beautiful, but it means was beautiful.
Why is it ovaj and not ova or ovo?
Because san is a masculine singular noun, and ovaj must agree with it.
In Serbian, words like this change form depending on the gender of the noun:
- masculine: ovaj
- feminine: ova
- neuter: ovo
Since san is masculine, you say ovaj san.
How do I know that san is masculine?