EasyCroatian_r47.an
Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 26 Yes or No? 156 / 600The verbs sresti (sretne, sreo) meet, come across and doći (dođe, došao, došla)come, arrive are two more perfective verbs; I will explain them a bit later, in 37Complete Reading: Perfective Verbs.The various forms of questions are here purely for rhythmic reasons.• ExerciseFill in the right words:______(a) ____(b) __________(c) film? Did you watch the movie? (to a single femaleperson)______(d) ____(e) __________(f) film? Did you watch the movie? (to a mixed group)Check answers here.
Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 27 Body 157 / 60027 BodyCroatian sees body parts and what’s felt in them in a quite different way thanEnglish. Let’s check words for body parts first:glava headjezik tonguekoljeno kneekost f bonelakat (lakt-) elbowleđa n pl. backnoga leg/footnos nosepeta heelprst finger, toerame (ramen-) shoulderruka hand/armtrbuh stomach (belly) ®usta n pl. mouthvrat neckzub toothWords leđa and usta we have already encountered: they exist only in plural. Bothwords are neuter. The noun rame belongs to a small group of neuter nouns withcase-base extended with an n.The word jezik tongue means also language.It’s interesting that Croatian doesn’t distinguish arm from hand or leg from foot!There’s only one word for both arm and hand.Now, there are two very useful and often used verbs:boljeti (boli,...) hurt svrbiti / svrbjeti itchThe verb boljeti has past forms like živjeti and other verbs on -jeti, so I have omittedthem, and wrote only periods. The verb svrbiti has another infinitive form, svrbjeti –it’s more formal – but the present forms are the same; for more, see 58 Colloquialand Formal.Now, the English verb itch can be used in two ways:My leg itches.The shirt itches me.Both Croatian verbs are always used in the second way. Something (a body part,shirt...) always does something (itches, ‘hurts’) to someone. In Croatian, the firstsentence translates as:Svrbi me A noga N . ‘The leg is itching me.’ = My leg itches.1One who gets affected is in accusative, and the body part or anything else thatcauses feelings is the subject of the sentence, and therefore in nominative. What isthe source of feelings is often put to the end.This, a bit unexpected use of cases, is sometimes called inverse assignment. Whatyou expect to be a subject actually isn’t, at least grammatically.
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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 27 Body 157 / 600
27 Body
Croatian sees body parts and what’s felt in them in a quite different way than
English. Let’s check words for body parts first:
glava head
jezik tongue
koljeno knee
kost f bone
lakat (lakt-) elbow
leđa n pl. back
noga leg/foot
nos nose
peta heel
prst finger, toe
rame (ramen-) shoulder
ruka hand/arm
trbuh stomach (belly) ®
usta n pl. mouth
vrat neck
zub tooth
Words leđa and usta we have already encountered: they exist only in plural. Both
words are neuter. The noun rame belongs to a small group of neuter nouns with
case-base extended with an n.
The word jezik tongue means also language.
It’s interesting that Croatian doesn’t distinguish arm from hand or leg from foot!
There’s only one word for both arm and hand.
Now, there are two very useful and often used verbs:
boljeti (boli,...) hurt svrbiti / svrbjeti itch
The verb boljeti has past forms like živjeti and other verbs on -jeti, so I have omitted
them, and wrote only periods. The verb svrbiti has another infinitive form, svrbjeti –
it’s more formal – but the present forms are the same; for more, see 58 Colloquial
and Formal.
Now, the English verb itch can be used in two ways:
My leg itches.
The shirt itches me.
Both Croatian verbs are always used in the second way. Something (a body part,
shirt...) always does something (itches, ‘hurts’) to someone. In Croatian, the first
sentence translates as:
Svrbi me A noga N . ‘The leg is itching me.’ = My leg itches.
1
One who gets affected is in accusative, and the body part or anything else that
causes feelings is the subject of the sentence, and therefore in nominative. What is
the source of feelings is often put to the end.
This, a bit unexpected use of cases, is sometimes called inverse assignment. What
you expect to be a subject actually isn’t, at least grammatically.
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