U pet, za godinu dana, pre pet godina: time and case
Agreeing on a time means choosing a form four times in a row. English rides on prepositions — at five, in a year, five years ago, on Wednesdays — and keeps the noun flat; Serbian leans on endings, and two of its prepositions point the opposite way from what you would map. For example: “Видимо се у среду у пет, не пре тога” — We will meet on Wednesday at five, not before. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on…
How it works
Agreeing on a time means choosing a form four times in a row. English rides on prepositions — at five, in a year, five years ago, on Wednesdays — and keeps the noun flat; Serbian leans on endings, and two of its prepositions point the opposite way from what you would map.
Hour and day — u with the object form. U pet sati, u sredu, u podne, u ponoć — at five, on Wednesday, at noon, at midnight. Matches English completely; only the noun bends.
What repeats — the with-form, no preposition. Sredom — on Wednesdays, nedeljom — on Sundays, subotom, danima — for days on end, zimi — in winter, leti — in summer. English "on Wednesdays" is two words; Serbian packs it into one bent word — the most economical form in the whole topic.
The main trap — za. Serbian za with the object form means "in …'s time" — after how long: za godinu dana — in a year, za pet minuta — in five minutes. English "for a year" in the sense of duration is the object form alone, or tokom: radio sam godinu dana, tokom godine.
How long ago — pre with the of-form. Pre pet godina — five years ago, pre nedelju dana — a week ago. The same pre means "before": pre podne — before noon, ne pre pet — not before five. Its pair is posle: posle podne, posle posla.
The edge and the start of a span — the of-form after krajem, početkom, tokom: krajem nedelje — at the end of the week, početkom meseca, tokom leta. And a whole span — od… do…, both ends in the of-form: od devet do pet — from nine to five.
And the last thing, which English has no feel for: Serbian almost always adds dana to a span of years, weeks and months: godinu dana, nedelju dana, mesec dana. The word is redundant by meaning and obligatory by sound — without it the phrase sounds cut short.
Table
| the phrase | the case | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| u + object form | hour and day | u pet, u sredu | at five, on Wednesday |
| the with-form | what repeats | sredom, zimi | on Wednesdays, in winter |
| za + object form | after how long | za godinu dana | in a year's time |
| pre + of-form | how long ago | pre pet godina | five years ago |
| pre, posle + of-form | before and after | posle podne | after noon |
| krajem, početkom, tokom | the of-form | krajem nedelje | at the end of the week |
| od… do… + of-form | a span | od devet do pet | from nine to five |
| the object form alone | duration | čekao sam sat | I waited an hour |
By example
- Видимо се у среду у пет, не пре тогаVidimo se u sredu u pet, ne pre togaWe will meet on Wednesday at five, not before
- Средом увек радим до касноSredom uvek radim do kasnoOn Wednesdays I always work late
- Преселио сам се пре пет година, а за годину дана се враћамPreselio sam se pre pet godina, a za godinu dana se vraćamI moved five years ago, and in a year I am coming back
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
U pet, za godinu dana, pre pet godina: how does it work in Serbian?
Agreeing on a time means choosing a form four times in a row. English rides on prepositions — at five, in a year, five years ago, on Wednesdays — and keeps the noun flat; Serbian leans on endings, and two of its prepositions point the opposite way from what you would map.
What does it look like in an example sentence Serbian?
“Видимо се у среду у пет, не пре тога” (Vidimo se u sredu u pet, ne pre toga) — We will meet on Wednesday at five, not before. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.