EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 20 At My Friend’s: Genive 120 / 600
Auto N pripada mojoj sestri DL . The car belongs to my sister.
Auto N pripada Ani DL . The car belongs to Ana.
Another universal way – but very colloquial – is to use the verb biti (je² +) be with the
preposition od¨ + G:
Auto N je od moje sestre G . (colloq.!) The car ‘is of my sister’.
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Auto N je od Ane G . (colloq.!) The car ‘is of Ana’.
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• Something Possibly Interesting
In Croatian and Serbian grammatical traditions, the G case is always listed second,
after the nominative case. In some Serbian grammars, it’s even called ‘the second
case’. When the traditional N-G-... order of listing cases in primary school textbooks
in Croatia was changed to N-A-... – about a decade ago – a lot of Croatians
complained: they have learned the N-G... order in school, often memorizing it like a
song (and mostly not thinking what the cases really are, which is expected for 11-
year-olds).
The use of kod¨ + G for possession is kind of opposite of using DL (or possessive
adjectives), and it’s really a different kind of possession: kod¨ + G indicates really
having something (e.g. tickets in the pocket), while D indicates some intrinsic bond –
body parts, personal items, especially when “on” someone. Different kinds of
possession can be combined, as in tvoj auto je kod Ane – the car is yours, but Ana
has it (at the moment). In Russian, the first way – a preposition + G (Russian uses the
preposition u) – is the main way to indicate any kind of possession, including having
brothers. The Russian verb meaning have is rarely used.
• Exercise
Fill in the missing words:
Goran ____(a) ______(b) ________(c). Goran is at his mother’s place.
Mačka ____(d) ________(e) ________(f). The cat is afraid of water.
Tražim __________(g) ______________(h). I’m looking for the key of the wardrobe.
____________(i) je kod ______(j). Ana has the book.
Ivan je ______(k) vrhu ____________(l) ______________(m). Ivan is on the top of a
high mountain.
Goran se boji ____________(n) ________(o). Goran is afraid of the black dog.
Ne sjećam ____(p) ____(q) ________(r). I don’t remember that night.
Nismo ______(s) ________(t). We’re not at home.
Check answers here.
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