Accusative time prepositions
In short
Three prepositions, fixed cases.
| Phrase | Case | Example |
|---|---|---|
| na + time | acc | na vreme |
| u + DAY | acc | u ponedeljak, u sredu, u subotu |
| za + duration | acc | za sat vremena, za nedelju dana |
| u + MONTH / period | loc | u junu, u septembru, u ovom mesecu |
Feminine days show the ending: sreda → u sredu, subota → u subotu, nedelja → u nedelju. Masculine days are unchanged: u ponedeljak, u petak.
After u, the noun decides: a day → accusative, a month or a period → locative (same as the place locative, u gradu).
A2 · Lesson 47 · Accusative in fixed time phrases: na vreme, u sredu, za sat vremena
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
You already know that u and na can point two ways: u gradu is where you are, u grad is where you are going. With TIME they do something different — the case is simply baked into the phrase. Nobody is moving anywhere in na vreme ("on time"), and yet it is accusative. You learn these as fixed phrases, and there are only three prepositions to learn.
na vreme — on time
na + accusative gives the one phrase you will use constantly: na vreme, "on time", "punctually". vreme is neuter, so its accusative looks exactly like its nominative — but accusative it is, and na vremenu would be wrong.
- Stigli smo na vreme. — We arrived on time.
- Voz nikad ne kreće na vreme. — The train never leaves on time.
- Molim te, dođi na vreme. — Please come on time.
u + a day of the week — accusative
To say on a day, Serbian uses u plus the accusative of the day. The three feminine days show the ending clearly: the -a turns into -u. The four masculine days end in a consonant, so their accusative looks identical to the dictionary form — no ending to add.
| Day | On that day | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| ponedeljak | u ponedeljak | masculine — same as the nominative |
| utorak | u utorak | masculine — same as the nominative |
| sreda | u sredu | feminine — -a becomes -u |
| četvrtak | u četvrtak | masculine — same as the nominative |
| petak | u petak | masculine — same as the nominative |
| subota | u subotu | feminine — -a becomes -u |
| nedelja | u nedelju | feminine — -a becomes -u |
Compare this with the bare time phrases you met earlier: u sredu is one particular Wednesday, sredom (bare instrumental) is "on Wednesdays", every week, and svake srede (bare genitive) says the same thing. Three different phrases, three different jobs.
za + a length of time — "in an hour"
za + accusative measures forward from now: za sat vremena is "in an hour('s time)", za nedelju dana is "in a week". English in is the closest match; it never means "during". Watch the two feminine nouns — nedelja and godina — where the accusative -u is visible.
| Phrase | Meaning | The accusative in it |
|---|---|---|
| za sat vremena | in an hour | sat — masculine, unchanged |
| za pet minuta | in five minutes | the numeral governs minuta |
| za dva dana | in two days | the counting form dana |
| za nedelju dana | in a week | nedelja → nedelju |
| za mesec dana | in a month | mesec — masculine, unchanged |
| za godinu dana | in a year | godina → godinu |
vremena and dana inside these phrases are genitives that never change — they are part of the fixed expression, like the time in English "in an hour's time". With sat you can simply drop it: za sat means the same as za sat vremena. With nedelju, mesec and godinu keep the dana — za nedelju dana is "in a week", while a bare za nedelju would be read as the day Sunday.
u + a month — but now the LOCATIVE
Here is the split that matters. The same u, in the same kind of time phrase, takes the locative when what follows is a MONTH or a longer period. A day of the week is accusative; a month is locative. Nothing about the preposition tells you which — you decide from the noun.
| Month | In that month |
|---|---|
| januar | u januaru |
| april | u aprilu |
| jun | u junu |
| septembar | u septembru |
| oktobar | u oktobru |
Longer stretches of time behave the same way: u ovom mesecu (this month), u toj godini (that year), and the question u kom mesecu? (in which month?).
So u has three jobs now, and you tell them apart by what comes next. A DAY: accusative — u sredu. A MONTH or a period: locative — u junu. A PLACE you are in: locative — u gradu. The only one that catches people is the first, because a day feels like a time and a time feels like it should behave like u junu. It does not.
Putting them together
- Sastanak je u sredu. — The meeting is on Wednesday.
- Sastanak je u junu. — The meeting is in June.
- Javiću ti se za sat vremena. — I'll get in touch in an hour.
- Rok je u petak, a ne u subotu. — The deadline is Friday, not Saturday.
Check what you read
6 of the 15 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Ispit je u(sreda).
Vidimo se u(subota).
Podseti me u(nedelja) ujutru.
Rok ističe u ___.
Vidimo se u ___.
Selimo se u ___.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Sastanak je u sredu.
The meeting is on Wednesday.
Stigli smo na vreme.
We arrived on time.
Molim te, dođi na vreme.
Please come on time.
Rezervaciju moram da potvrdim u ponedeljak.
I have to confirm the booking on Monday.
Voz nikad ne kreće na vreme.
The train never leaves on time.
Javiću ti se za sat vremena.
I'll get in touch in an hour.
Polazak voza je za pet minuta, požuri!
The train's departure is in five minutes, hurry up!
Rok za prijavu ističe u petak u podne.
The application deadline expires on Friday at noon.
Stavi podsetnik u telefon: sastanak je u četvrtak.
Put a reminder in your phone: the meeting is on Thursday.
Rok je u petak, a ne u subotu.
The deadline is on Friday, not on Saturday.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 46
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
The meeting is on Wednesday.