sretan sam
In Bosnian, "I am happy" is expressed as sretan sam.
The phrase is used to express that a person is feeling pleasure or contentment.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase sretan sam literally translates to "happy am I". It consists of the adjective sretan (happy) and the first-person singular form of the verb biti (to be), which is sam (I am).
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree with the gender of the speaker: use sretan sam if you are male and sretna sam if you are female. In the phrase sretan sam, the subject pronoun ja (I) is often omitted because the verb form sam already indicates that the subject is "I".
Did you know?
- The word sam in sretan sam can also mean 'alone' in a different grammatical context. The meaning depends entirely on whether it is acting as a verb or an adjective.
- The word sretan is also used to say 'happy' in the context of 'happy birthday' or 'happy new year'. In these cases, it means 'lucky' or 'auspicious' rather than an emotional state.
- The other meaning of sam, meaning 'alone', originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *somHós. This means the two different meanings of the word sam actually come from two entirely different ancient words.
Examples in context
- Drago mi je! Čestitam!I am happy for you! Congratulations!
- Hvala! Veoma sam sretan što ti se svidjela.Thank you! I am very happy that you liked it.
- Baš mi je lijepo. Hvala što si me doveo/la ovamo.I am really enjoying myself. Thank you for bringing me here.
- Sretan sam zbog tvog uspjeha.I am happy because of your success.
Example conversation
Amra and Emir are talking about a new job.
- AmraDobio si novi posao, Emir!You got a new job, Emir!
- EmirDa, sretan sam zbog toga.Yes, I am happy about that.
- AmraTakođer se radujem za tebe.I am also glad for you.
- EmirHvala ti puno, Amra.Thank you very much, Amra.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries sam, CC BY-SA 4.0.
