EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 38 Needs, Wishes and Intenons 225 / 600
However, it’s common to use the verb raditi besides to, in its generic sense (do):
Ne mogu to raditi. (the same meaning)
moći pres-1
The verb trebati is often used impersonally, when used with another verb in inf. It
corresponds to using English generic words like one and men/people:
Treba° jesti zdravo. One should eat healthy.
Of course, as with all impersonal expressions, the verb will be in neuter singular in
the past: trebalo je...
What about intending/having to do something that in Croatian must use a verb with
a se²? You still must use the se², and place it at the second place in the sentence:
Goran N se želi igrati. Goran wants to play.
Moram se brijati. I have to shave.
There’s nothing special about questions – these verbs behave like any other verb, for
instance:
Hoćeš li gledati film A ? Do you want to watch the movie?
htjeti pres-2
Što A želiš jesti? What do you want to eat?
— Pizzu A . A pizza.
You can ask about desired actions using što – and answer with verbs in inf (+ objects,
if needed):
Što A želiš? What do you want?
— Jesti pizzu A . ‘Eat pizza.’
If you want to stress that the question is about an action, not a desired object, use
the verb raditi work/do:
Što A želiš raditi? What do you want to do?
— Igrati se. ‘Play.’
There’s one more possibility to express wishes and intentions, using nouns. The
common nouns used for this purpose are:
namjera intention
obaveza obligation
plan plan
potreba need
pravo right
želja wish
They are used as verbs above, what you wish/intend/need is expressed with a verb
in infinitive following the noun:
Ana N ima potrebu A spavati. Ana has a need to sleep.
If the verb in infinitive has a se², it usually follows the verb, but can be also placed
elsewhere, usual placement rules don’t hold:
Goran N ima namjeru A igrati se. ‘Goran has an intention to play.’