EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 43 And, Or, But: Basic Conjuncons 253 / 600
As you can see, this corresponds to English neither... nor..., but the major difference
is that the verb is negated in Croatian sentences.
To emphasize that only one option is possible, you can use ili... ili..., corresponding
to English either... or:
To N je ili patka N ili guska N . That’s either a duck or a goose.
The following conjunctions are used for time sequences, where one thing happens
after another, usually when the subject is the same, or there’s no subject:
pa
and (time sequence)
te (bookish)
Both can be replaced with i¨ when linking two parts of a sentence. For example:
Bila sam gladna N pa sam kupila sendvič A . I was hungry, and/so I bought a sandwich.
Both conjunctions count, i.e. second position words come right after them.
The word pa is also used in conversation, to emphasize that something is almost
obvious, that something need not to be said at all:
Žedan N sam. I’m thirsty.
— Pa popij malo vode G ! Well, drink some water!
It can be also used on its own, as a small (impatient) rhetorical question:
Pa? Well? / So? / So what?
In this use, pa corresponds to English well, but it’s not used as a “filler word” when
you try to fill a gap in your speech (... well, .... ). As fillers, words znači and dakle are
common.
The word te is a fancy conjunction that’s virtually never used in speech.
• Examples
This song, Najdraže moje Oh my dearest, was a big hit by Novi fosili, the most
popular Croatian pop group in late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The song is still quite
popular.
The song starts with a condition clause, which is not explained yet, but actually quite
simple to understand. The words najdraže moje are in the only case we haven’t
covered yet: the vocative case; it’s used to directly address someone. In that case,
adjectives usually come after nouns. Furthermore, the adjective najdraži dearest is
in the so-called superlative form; it will be covered in 63 Bigger and Better:
Comparatives.
Ako te A izgubim If I lose you
2
najdraže moje oh my dearest
Utopit će se zvijezde N The stars will drown