EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 35 Tools and Means, With and Without 206 / 600
za volanom behind the
za upravljačem (steering) wheel
(Both volan and upravljač mean steering wheel; the former noun is colloquial, the
latter is standard.)
With verbs of motion, za¨ + I indicates following something or someone:
Trčali smo za njom I . We were running after her.
Three final remarks: first, certain feminine nouns that don’t end in -a have
alternative I forms, e.g.
riječ word → riječju sol salt → solju
Both forms are standard, some people prefer the forms in -ju, but the forms in -i are
actually much more common in speech.
Second, masculine names in -io (which always have -ij- whenever anything is added
to them) have two possible I forms, and both are used:
Mario (Marij-) →
Mariom
Marijem
Third, according to Standard Croatian, most one and two syllable masc. nouns which
would get -em, but have the vowel -e- before it, get -om instead. Classic examples
are:
jež hedgehog → ježom
muzej museum → muzejom
However, in speech and casual writing, versions with -em are common too: you’ll
see and hear ježem as well, and muzejem is likely more common in speech. This
never applies to longer nouns (e.g. prijatelj friend), which get always -em, and
doesn’t apply to some two-syllable nouns as well – the feature is actually irregular.
________
® Instead of vlak, the word voz is used for train in Serbia and most of Bosnia. The
pres-3 form šeće is specific to Croatia; in Bosnia and Serbia, the form šeta is used.
• Something Possibly Interesting
If you search the Internet, you’ll find a number of pages discussing whether
muzejom or muzejem is ‘right’. The mere existence of such pages should inform
you there’s some variation in speech and writing, and you can expect both variants.
You won’t find any discussions about autom vs. autem – only one form is used.
• Examples
The song Jugo Southern Wind, is a very successful song performed by Giuliano Đanić