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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 60 More Useful Verbs and Verbal Paerns 351 / 600

(I marked this as colloquial, but the Standard Croatian noun hladnjak is very rare in

real life.) Of course, you can also specify the location of the destination, i.e. where

the fridge is (e.g. u frižider u kuhinji).

The verbs are derived from this pair in the same way as with the stand pair: the

same prefix is attached to both verbs and we get a new pair with a different

meaning than the original one. Two pairs we have already encountered:

ostavljati ~ ostaviti leave (a thing)

pretpostavljati ~ pretpostaviti suppose, assume

The verb pair ostavljati ~ ostaviti is frequently used with a metaphoric location na

miru in peace, in meaning leave alone, that is, not interfere:

Ostavio sam ga A na miru DL . I left him alone.

3m/n

Another frequently used verb pair is:

nastavljati ~ nastaviti keep on, continue

This pair is usually used with another verb in inf (it can be also used with an object in

A, usually some activity). This is another phase verb – the verb after it should be

impf., since we describe action, and not outcomes:

Nastavio sam čitati. I continued reading. ®

This can be also translated as kept on reading – this verb pair is the way to express

that meaning in Croatian. Also, you likely noticed that the prefix na means on.

This verb pair translates to several meanings in English:

postavljati ~ postaviti set

The basic meaning is set, in the meaning fix, put on an elevated place, erect (a

monument), but also make ready (e.g. set the table). It’s not used in the meanings

set free, set in motion (Croatian has specific verbs for such actions):

Ana N je postavila stol A . Ana has set the table. ®

When you want to express where something is placed or fixed, you have to use

destinations, like for the base pair, but again unlike in English:

Postavit ću sliku A na zid A . I’ll put the picture on the wall.

Interestingly, this verb is also the most common verb used to formulate and ask

questions:

Postavio sam dva pitanja 24 . I asked two questions. (I = male)

These two verb pairs have exactly the opposite meaning:

rastavljati ~ rastaviti take apart, disassemble

sastavljati ~ sastaviti put together, assemble

When you disassemble something, the result is expressed in na¨ + A (usually in

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