када / данас / сутра

Saying When

Level 1Sounds Like kada; danas; sutra; vremenski izrazi

To ask "when", use the question word када (or кад). To answer, use basic time adverbs like данас (today) and сутра (tomorrow), or the preposition у with days of the week and clock times.

How It Works

Expressing when an event happens is essential for everyday conversations in Serbian.

1. Asking 'When?'
• Када (or its equally standard shorter variant кад) means "when":
Када почиње филм? (When does the movie start?)
• To ask for an exact clock time, ask У колико сати...? ("At what time...?"). Note that asking what the current time is requires Колико је сати? (literally: "How many hours is it?"), not *Када је време?.

2. Common Point-in-Time Adverbs
These adverbs never decline or change form:
• данас — today
• сутра — tomorrow
• јуче — yesterday
• сада — now
• вечерас — tonight / this evening
• синоћ — last night

3. Days of the Week (у + Accusative)
In Serbian, days of the week use the preposition у, which takes the accusative case:
• Masculine days stay identical to the nominative: у понедељак (on Monday), у уторак (on Tuesday), у четвртак (on Thursday), у петак (on Friday).
• Feminine days end in -у: у среду (on Wednesday), у суботу (on Saturday), у недељу (on Sunday).
Note: In Serbian, days of the week are spelled with a lowercase initial letter.

4. Clock Time (у + Numeral)
To say "at" a specific hour, use у followed by the numeral and the appropriate form of сат:
• 1: у један (сат)
• 2, 3, 4: у два / три / четири сата
• 5–12: у пет / шест... сати (often just у пет)

Examples (4)

  1. Када се налазимо сутра?

    When are we meeting tomorrow?

    Word by Word: When self we-find tomorrow?

    Uses 'када' to ask when and the adverb 'сутра' (tomorrow) to establish the timeframe.

  2. Налазимо се у три сата.

    We are meeting at three o'clock.

    Word by Word: Self we-find in three hours.

    Expresses exact clock time with 'у' followed by 'три сата'.

  3. Имамо ли састанак данас или у среду?

    Do we have a meeting today or on Wednesday?

    Word by Word: Have-we a meeting today or in Wednesday?

    Contrasts the adverb 'данас' (today) with the day phrase 'у среду' (accusative of 'среда').

  4. Воз стиже у петак у осам сати увече.

    The train arrives on Friday at eight o'clock in the evening.

    Word by Word: Train arrives in Friday in eight hours in-evening.

    Combines a day of the week ('у петак') with an exact hour ('у осам сати').

Common Mistakes

  • Using the preposition 'на' instead of 'у' for days of the week.

    Видимо се на понедељак.
    Видимо се у понедељак.

    English speakers often map 'on Monday' to 'на'. In Serbian, days of the week require the preposition 'у' followed by the accusative case.

  • Failing to change feminine days of the week to the accusative ending -у.

    Имам испит у среда.
    Имам испит у среду.

    Feminine days ending in -a (среда, субота, недеља) must change to -у after 'у' when indicating a point in time.

  • Capitalizing days of the week in mid-sentence.

    Ручак је у Суботу.
    Ручак је у суботу.

    Unlike English, Serbian orthography dictates that days of the week, months, and seasons are written strictly with lowercase letters unless starting a sentence.

How It Connects

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када / данас / сутраLevel 1Saying When

Learn This First

To talk about when events happen using time expressions like 'када', 'данас', or 'у понедељак', learners need a basic command of present tense verbs to frame actions, as well as familiarity with the accusative singular case used with 'у' for days of the week.

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Words in This Pattern

кадакададанассутра