EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 27 Body 160 / 600
Goran N ima prljave noge A . Goran has dirty feet.
Imaš prljavo lice A . You have dirty face.
There’s something very interesting. The way #1 to describe a body part – using DL
for possession of it – is limited to temporary properties. Using it to express more
permanent properties (e.g. color) is very rare.
The same holds for clothes. If a T-shirt is dirty – and especially if someone is wearing
it – you can say:
Majica N ti DL je prljava N . Your T-shirt is dirty. (The T-shirt you’re wearing)
Prljava N ti DL je majica N . (the same meaning, emphasis on prljav dirty)
But nobody would use that expression to express that the shirt is red, as this is a
permanent property.
Of course, there’s yet another way to express possession: with possessive
adjectives, like Goranov or moj my. It can be used for both kinds of properties.
However, it’s much less often used in speech, the two ways above are preferred.
Frequency of these expressions is not the same in all regions: the first way is less
common in western and northern Croatia, the verb imati have is preferred in wider
Zagreb and Rijeka regions, especially in small towns and villages. Using DL in such
sentences gets more common further you go to the southeast. This table sums up
the three possibilities (using the 1st person):
Ways to say my hair is dirty
is it common?
Kosa N mi DL je prljava N .
Prljava N mi DL je kosa N .
DL yes (for temporary prop.)
Imam prljavu kosu A . verb have yes (esp. western areas)
Moja kosa N je prljava N . possessive not really
There’s another way to look at this feature. Temporary properties – wet, dirty, clean
etc. affect the person. It’s something he or she maybe doesn’t know. Everyone
knows he or she has a long or brown hair, or a red shirt. This is yet another example
where DL = the affected person. Therefore, the form with the DL is not used to
express that something is new.
I admit – this is a rather fine point. If you are going to use possessive adjectives or
the verb imati in all circumstances, you will still be understood, of course, and not
sound weird. Just be prepared to hear such expressions from native speakers.
________
® Instead of trbuh, the noun stomak is common in Serbia and Bosnia; it also means
stomach.
In parts of Croatia not too far from the Slovene border, you will encounter –
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