„Ово је…“: the predicative that never agrees
The rule
Pokazne zamenice
The part of the grammar page this lesson drills — read it here, then use it.
Neutral ово/то/оно as predicative subjects
When a demonstrative introduces or identifies something - "this is…", "that is…" - Serbian defaults to the neuter singular ово/то/оно regardless of the gender of whatever follows: Ово је Марко. (This is Marko.), То је моја сестра. (That's my sister - feminine сестра, yet то stays neuter), Оно је наше село. (That over there is our village.) This is different from the attributive use in the previous section, where the demonstrative must agree with the noun it modifies.
| Use | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| atributivno (slaže se sa imenicom) | Ovaj čovek je visok. | This man is tall. |
| predikativno (uvek srednji rod) | Ovo je čovek. | This is a man. |