Time prepositions governing the genitive
In short
Time prepositions → genitive
| pre | before | pre četvrtka |
| posle | after | posle ručka |
| tokom | during | tokom vikenda |
| oko | around | oko podneva |
| do | until, by | do petka |
od ... do = a stretch: od ponedeljka do petka.
Genitive singular: m/n -a, f -e; modifier m/n -og, f -e.
No preposition: svaki / prošli / sledeći / ovaj + time noun stands in the genitive — svakog ponedeljka, svake nedelje, prošle godine, sledeće nedelje, ovog meseca. Accusative stays for svaki dan, ovu nedelju.
A2 · Lesson 40 · Time prepositions with the genitive
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
In the last lesson you put things in space with the genitive: ispred zgrade, pored prozora, blizu stanice. Serbian uses the very same case to put things in time. Say pre and the word after it goes into the genitive, exactly as it did after ispred.
Five prepositions do almost all the work of arranging a day.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre | before | pre sastanka | before the meeting |
| posle | after | posle ručka | after lunch |
| tokom | during, in the course of | tokom nedelje | during the week |
| oko | around, about | oko podneva | around noon |
| do | until, by | do petka | until Friday |
The genitive singular endings are the ones you already know: a masculine or neuter noun takes -a (sastanak → sastanka, četvrtak → četvrtka, vikend → vikenda, podne → podneva), and a feminine noun in -a takes -e (nedelja → nedelje, pauza → pauze). Anything standing in front of the noun agrees with it: -og for masculine and neuter, -e for feminine.
- Vidimo se posle prvog časa. — See you after the first class.
- Zovem te pre naše pauze. — I'll call you before our break.
- Javi mi pre četvrtka. — Let me know before Thursday.
- Tokom vikenda nemam sastanke. — During the weekend I have no meetings.
od ... do — a stretch of time
od and do work as one frame, from one point to another, and both sides stand in the genitive. It is the normal way to give working hours or the length of a meeting.
- Sastanak traje od dva do tri. — The meeting runs from two to three.
- Ordinacija radi od ponedeljka do petka. — The surgery is open from Monday to Friday.
do also means 'by' a deadline: Javi mi do petka — let me know by Friday. Same form, and the context decides which English word fits.
With a number from five upwards nothing new happens: the numeral still puts its noun in the genitive plural, and the preposition simply sits in front of the whole phrase — pre pet minuta (five minutes ago), posle deset dana (after ten days).
pre + noun and pre nego što + clause
In lesson 38 you met pre nego što and posle toga for ordering two events. Those join whole clauses; pre and posle with the genitive do the same job with a single noun. Use whichever the sentence needs.
| With a noun (genitive) | With a clause |
|---|---|
| Doručkujem pre posla. | Doručkujem pre nego što idem na posao. |
| Odmaram se posle sastanka. | Odmaram se kad se sastanak završi. |
Time with no preposition at all
Serbian also marks time by case alone. You already do this with the accusative: svaki dan, ovu nedelju, celo jutro. But a time phrase built on svaki, prošli, sledeći or ovaj very often stands in the bare genitive instead, with no preposition anywhere — and that is the form that says every Monday, last year, next week.
| Phrase | Case | English |
|---|---|---|
| svakog ponedeljka | genitive | every Monday |
| svake nedelje | genitive | every week |
| svakog jutra | genitive | every morning |
| prošle godine | genitive | last year |
| sledeće nedelje | genitive | next week |
| ovog meseca | genitive | this month |
| svaki dan | accusative | every day |
| ovu nedelju | accusative | this week (the whole of it) |
Read the genitive phrases as answering when? — a point on the calendar, repeated or not. The accusative ones answer how long? or how often? and feel like a stretch you go through.
svaki dan is the everyday phrase for 'every day' and is accusative. Its genitive twin svakog dana exists and means the same thing — both are correct, so do not go looking for a difference there. With the other nouns, though, go with the genitive: svake nedelje, not svaku nedelju.
Watch nedelja: it means both week and Sunday. svake nedelje is 'every week' or 'every Sunday' — in speech the rest of the sentence settles it.
Check what you read
6 of the 15 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Vidimo se posle(čas).
Odmaram se posle ___.
Zovi me pre(pauza).
Javi mi pre ___.
Tokom(nedelja) imam mnogo obaveza.
Tokom ___ ne radim.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Doručkujem pre posla.
I have breakfast before work.
Javi mi pre četvrtka.
Let me know before Thursday.
Šta radiš posle ručka?
What are you doing after lunch?
Odmaram se posle sastanka.
I rest after the meeting.
Tokom vikenda nemam sastanke.
During the weekend I have no meetings.
Tokom prepodneva idem kod fizioterapeuta.
During the late morning I'm going to the physiotherapist.
Pre časa uvek popijem kafu.
Before the class I always have a coffee.
Doći ću oko sedam sati.
I'll come around seven o'clock.
Zovem te pre naše pauze.
I'll call you before our break.
Vidimo se posle prvog časa.
See you after the first class.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 59
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
I have breakfast before work.