ово је / то је / оно је

In Serbian, introducing, pointing out, or naming an object or person uses an equational copular structure corresponding to English 'this is', 'that is', or 'it is'. Serbian has nouns without articles, so equational sentences simply pair a demonstrative pronoun with the copula present forms of be and the predicate noun.

1. Three-Way Spatial and Contextual Deixis
Unlike English's binary 'this/that', Serbian distinguishes three relative positions:

• Ово је: Close to the speaker ('this here').
• То је: Close to the listener, or functioning as the general conversational default for items, facts, or topics just mentioned ('that' or 'it').
• Оно је: Distant from both the speaker and listener ('that over there').

2. Invariant Neuter Singular Form
When pointing out or identifying what something is, the demonstrative pronoun remains in the neuter singular (ово, то, оно). It does not change gender to agree with the noun being introduced:

• Ово је ауто. (Masculine) — This is a car.
• Ово је књига. (Feminine) — This is a book.
• Ово је село. (Neuter) — This is a village.

3. Verb Agreement in Number and Person
While the demonstrative stays invariant, the verb agrees with the predicate complement. For plural nouns, change singular је to plural су:

• Ово су књиге. — These are books.
• То су моји пријатељи. — Those are my friends.

When identifying a person using a personal pronoun, the verb agrees in person with that pronoun:

• То сам ја. — That is me / It's me.
• То си ти. — That is you.
• То смо ми. — That is us.

4. Word Order, Questions, and Negation
In basic affirmative statements, the clitic verb је immediately follows the demonstrative pronoun (Ово је стан). In standard questions, word order naturally changes:

• Шта је ово? — What is this?
• Да ли је ово твоја чаша? — Is this your glass?

In negative statements, use the stressed negative forms није / нису:

• То није мој проблем. — That is not my problem.
• Ово нису моји кључеви. — These are not my keys.