# Serbian (BCS): Skoro/Gotovo



## Roxannah_

Hi

I can say "Skoro je tri sata".
Can I also say "Gotovo je tri sata"?


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## doorman

Yes, but you have to use the plural form of the verb _biti_:
_Skoro *su* tri sata.
Gotovo *su* tri sata._


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## Roxannah_

Really? I did learn "Skoro *je* tri sata, skoro *je* pet sati", "sada *je* jedanaest" etc... Is this wrong, do I always have to use "*su*"?

I just found this:

http://books.google.pt/books?id=5u2xAV3u6ukC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=%22je+tri+sata%22%22&source=bl&ots=Y37IUJ9kjN&sig=w9W0-RFtmacwh8JOfz_aQSIqtyk&hl=pt-PT&ei=QQqtS-jrA8v84AbTzanPDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22je%20tri%20sata%22%22&f=false


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## DenisBiH

For what it's worth, what doorman said sounds grammatical to me, and the same is shown in this Slovenian-Bosnian phrasebook. Note that _skoro je pet/jedanaest sati _would be correct as _su_ is used only for 2-4.

However, in normal speech I guess I would often use _je_ in place of _su_ when telling time, and always when leaving out "sata" as in:

Koliko je sati?
Skoro je tri.


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## Duya

It doesn't even sound good to me. We don't say *_sada su tri sata_, but _sada je tri sata_. I don't think that, in this case, the argument of the copula is really plural. Rather, I parse it as "now is the time of three hours", the "time" being the object. If we don't use "su" for 5+ hours, we shouldn't use it for 2-4 either.


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## doorman

Please, someone who has a grammar book at hand verify this, but I'm quite sure Denis is right. In fact, I remember once looking for the answer to this odd construction (but not the answer, unfortunately).

One thing is sure though - common rules do not apply here.



Duya said:


> We don't say *_sada su tri sata_, but _sada je tri sata_.


I always say _tri su sata_, but also _pet je sati_.

But, don't we usually use such constructions?
_Tri su prijatelja kupila televiziju._
but
_Pet je prijatelja kupilo televiziju._
I cannot say why (someone please enlighten me), but _tri je prijatelja kupilo televiziju_ is wrong for sure.


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## Duya

Yeah, you got a point. I may have rushed into conclusion.


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## DenisBiH

Taman mi je postalo jasnije otkud toliki načini brojanja i onda ispadne ovo sa slaganjem glagola. Zašto _su/je_ opreka između 2-4 i 5+? Odnosno zašto paukal zaslužuje množinu a 5+ ne?


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## nexy

Duya said:


> It doesn't even sound good to me. We don't say *_sada su tri sata_, but _sada je tri sata_. I don't think that, in this case, the argument of the copula is really plural. Rather, I parse it as "now is the time of three hours", the "time" being the object. If we don't use "su" for 5+ hours, we shouldn't use it for 2-4 either.



Potpuno se slažem, ja uvek kažem *je*, nikad *su*. Mada, ima logike i u ovome što Denis kaže tako da i ja više nisam siguran šta je ispravno.
Ja obično izostavim _"sata"_, pa kažem _"Sad *je* dva/tri/četiri"_. _"Sad *su* dva/tri/četiri" _mi uopšte ne zvuči pravilno_._


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## DenisBiH

According to the phrasebook linked to above (really neat stuff, btw), both Czech and Slovak also show the same pattern.


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## phosphore

Roxannah_ said:


> Hi
> 
> I can say "Skoro je tri sata".
> Can I also say "Gotovo je tri sata"?


 
You can, but normally we would say "sad će tri" (rendered as "sȁće trȋ") or "skoro je tri".


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## Duya

"Gotovo" in this sense ("almost") sounds somewhat artificial and bookish to me. I don't think I would ever use it in everyday language. What do others think?


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## doorman

Duya said:


> "Gotovo" in this sense ("almost") sounds somewhat artificial and bookish to me. I don't think I would ever use it in everyday language. What do others think?



I second that opinion. _Gotovo_ is good for the written language, but when talking to others (or even yourself ) _skoro_ should be used.


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## DenisBiH

doorman said:


> I second that opinion. _Gotovo_ is good for the written language, but when talking to others (or even yourself ) _skoro_ should be used.




I third D) that opinion. For me personally:

skoro (je) tri
sa'će tri
još malo pa (će) tri
samo što nije tri
tri za par minuta

One could, in Bosnian, also say "haman tri sata" but it would refer to duration rather than time, I think.


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