# Serbian (BCS): I've been working for 10 hours ...



## effeundici

Ciao,

kako se kaže na srpskom : *I've been working for 10 hours therefore I'm very tired!*

Moj pokušai je: *Sam radio deset sati dakle/stoga sam mnogo gladan*.

Koj je najbolij? _dakle_ ili _stoga_?


Hvala unapred!

P.S. Molim, ako vi trebate da mnogo pišete, pišete sa Engleskom ili ja ne razumem!!  

šao mi je za moj srpski koj je ne dobro!


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## Orlin

effeundici said:


> Ciao,
> 
> kako se kaže na srpskom : *I've been working for 10 hours therefore I'm very tired!*
> 
> Moj pokušaj je: *Sam radio deset sati dakle/stoga sam mnogo gladan*.
> 
> Koje je najbolije? - _dakle_ ili _stoga_?
> 
> 
> Hvala unapred!
> 
> P.S. Molim, ako vi trebate da mnogo pišete, pišite na engleskom, inače ili ja ne razumem!!
> 
> žao mi je za moj srpski koj je ne dobro!
> Nažalost moj srpski nije dobar.


Radim već 10 sati i zato/stoga/zbog toga sam mnogo umoran.
Već sam radio/Radio sam 10 sati i zato/stoga/zbog toga sam mnogo umoran.
Koristimo prezent ako još radiš u momentu govorenja i perfekat ako već ne radiš u tom momentu. 
Gladan = hungry, umoran = tired.


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## Duya

effeundici said:


> Ciao,
> 
> kako se kaže na srpskom : *I've been working for 10 hours therefore I'm very tired!*
> 
> Moj pokušai je: *Sam radio deset sati dakle/stoga sam mnogo gladan*.
> 
> Koji je najbolji? _dakle_ ili _stoga_?
> 
> 
> Hvala unapred!
> 
> P.S. Molim, ako vi trebate da mnogo pišete, pišite na Engleskom ili ja ne razumem!!
> 
> žao mi je za moj srpski koji nije dobar!



The most natural order is:

_Radio sam deset sati *pa* sam mnogo _gladan umoran_._

1) A sentence cannot start with a clitic ("sam"). The rules for clitic placement are mind-boggling, but the basic one is that it comes second in a sentence (for a suitable definition of "second" )

2) "Pa" means approximately "so", while "dakle" means "therefore". "Stoga" is OK but it's bookish and formal, so it's unlikely to be uttered in real speech.

2+1) (Advanced stuff, feel free to forget it ) "Pa" is a linking conjunction, while "dakle" is more apositional, introducing a more significant pause, and is often written with commas. Thus, the word orders are:

_Radio sam deset sati *pa* sam mnogo _gladan umoran_._
_Radio sam deset sati, *dakle* mnogo __sam _gladan umoran_._


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## phosphore

Wait a second, are you hungry or tired?

I would say

Radim već deset sati, znači jako sam umoran! (_već_ - "already", _znači_ - literally "that means", here "therefore")
Radio sam deset sati, znači jako sam umoran! (see Orlin's remark about the past and the present tense here)

The construction with znači is slightly sub-standard, but it's the only one that sound perfectly natural in this case. The conjunction _pa_ rather translates to _and_ or _so_, while _dakle_ is too formal, _stoga_ even more so.

The adverb _jako_ is also slightly sub-standard, so you may put _mnogo_ instead if you want.


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## DenisBiH

For natural-sounding sentence with colloquialisms, I'd go with:

_Deset sati sam radio(, / i) pravo sam umoran.
Već deset sati radim__(, / i)__ pravo sam umoran._

But this usage of _pravo_ may be restricted to (parts of) Bosnia-Herzegovina.


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## phosphore

DenisBiH said:


> But this usage of _pravo_ may be restricted to (parts of) Bosnia-Herzegovina.


 
Definitely.


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## effeundici

Wow, hvala!

Naučio sam mnogo!

Dvostruki hvala za ispravke!!


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## natasha2000

Present Pefect Continuous translates to Serbian by Present Tense, so Past Tense is not a correct translation. 
* Radim već 10 sati, pa sam mnogo umoran.

...meaning exactly the same as:

* I've been working for 10 hours, so I am tired.

I have worked for 10 hours, I am still working, and maybe I will continue working. This is the basic meaning of Present Perfect Continuous Tense in English.

If you want to use the Past Tense in Serbian (Radio sam...), then English sentence should use the Present Perfect: 

* I've worked for 10 hours... 

Meaning, I have worked until NOW and I am not working any more.


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## Duya

natasha2000 said:


> Present Pefect Continuous translates to Serbian by Present Tense, so Past Tense is not a correct translation.
> * Radim već 10 sati, pa sam mnogo umoran.
> 
> ...meaning exactly the same as:
> 
> * I've been working for 10 hours, so I am tired.
> 
> I have worked for 10 hours, I am still working, and maybe I will continue working. This is the basic meaning of Present Perfect Continuous Tense in English.
> 
> If you want to use the Past Tense in Serbian (Radio sam...), then English sentence should use the Present Perfect:
> 
> * I've worked for 10 hours...
> 
> Meaning, I have worked until NOW and I am not working any more.



I don't see a reason for such rigid approach. There is no 1:1 mapping between the English and Serbian tenses. Besides, in English you cannot say  "_I've worked for 10 hours_" because the period requires a continuous tense, while Serbian "Radio sam 10 sati" is perfectly grammatical and common. 

In other words, both "_Radim 10 sati pa sam se umorio_" and "_Radio sam 10 sati pa sam se umorio_" are fine and natural-sounding Serbian sentences. The second one might also refer to the past (_I *had been working* 10 hours so I got tired_), which is usually resolved by the context (time reference).


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## natasha2000

> In other words, both "_Radim 10 sati pa sam se umorio_" and "_Radio sam 10 sati pa sam se umorio_" are fine and natural-sounding Serbian sentences.


I haven't said that it was wrong, I just said it was not an exact translation of the English sentence in question.



> I don't see a reason for such rigid approach.


It is not rigid, but accurate.



> There is no 1:1 mapping between the English and Serbian tenses.


There is no 1:1 mapping between any language, not only between E and S. But, some accuracy shold be taken into account when translating. You can spend whole day working and at some point you can say both:
Radio sam ceo dan...
and
Radim ceo dan...

But the first one implies that you will continue working, and the second one implies that you stopped working. In English, for the first case you can say I've been working all day... (and I will probably continue working), but you can also say: I've worked for 10 hours today, (and now I am tired and I want to go home and get some rest)...

Technically, you can use both sentences in Serbian, they are perfectly correct from the grammatical point of view, but the second one is not so precise as an English one, and of course, the first Serbian sentence.


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## effeundici

natasha2000 said:


> * I've worked for 10 hours...
> 
> Meaning, I have worked until NOW and I am not working any more.


 
Are you sure? I honestly don't think so. You can say for sure:

_I've worked in this company for 10 years_

and this does not mean at all that now you don't work anymore for it. On the contrary this form is specifically used for actions which are not finished in the present.

If you don't work for it anymore I think you should say:

_I worked in this company for 10 years_


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## natasha2000

effeundici said:


> Are you sure?


Yes, I am. The thing is that when a speaker uses the Present Perfect T., for him it is not important what happens after, so, you *can* say I've worked with this comp. for 10 years, and it will be perfectly correct, but using the Present Perfect (and not Present Perfect Continuous) you are putting the stress to what have happened until now, and if you used the Present Perfect Continuous, then you would also include the info about the future. 


The thing is: all the sentences here mentioned are correct, both in English and in Serbian, and I am not talking about correctness, but their subtle meaning they carry with them, beyond just simple Present, Past or Future.


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## phosphore

The difference between the Present Perfect Simple and the Present Perfect Continuous in this case is simply that with the Present Perfect Simple you state a fact while with the Present Perfect Continuous you stress it was a process.


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