EasyCroatian_r47.an

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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 69 Memories, Expectaons and Fear 400 / 600content clause must be used:Zapamtio sam [da moram zatvoriti prozor A ]. I ‘memorized’ I have to close thewindow. (i.e. I know it, I’ll do it, you don’t have to remind me)The basic verb to express fear in Croatian is:bojati (boji) se² (+ G/inf/clause)For example:Ana N se boji zmija G . Ana is afraid of snakes.bojati seAnother way is using the noun strah + the verb biti (je² +) + one who’s afraid in A (+what is afraid of in G):Anu A je strah N zmija G . Ana is afraid of snakes.Anu A je bio strah N zmija G . Ana was afraid of snakes.Anu A je bilo strah N zmija G . (the same meaning, more common)The noun strah fear is the subject, as you can see from the past tense, but thesentence is usually treated as impersonal, so using neuter singular in the past isactually more common. As with other expressions where the person who feelssomething is not in the nominative case, the person is nevertheless usually placed atthe first position.The complex biti (je² +) strah behaves like one compound verb. What if you want toconvert it to a verbal noun (i.e. gerund)? You would use then just strah, but whatcauses fear is then expressed with od¨ + G:strah od zmija fear of snakesstrah od letenja fear of flyingThere’s one more way, less used in speech, more in writing – the verb pair:plašiti ~ u- scareThe verbs can be used in both ways:Ana N se plaši zmija G . Ana is scared of snakes.Anu A plaše zmije N . Snakes scare Ana.You can also be afraid to do something – then just use the inf of the verb (which canhave its objects and so on):Goran N se boji voziti bicikl A . Goran is afraid to drive bicycle.bojati seAnu A je strah N roniti. Ana is afraid to dive.On the other hand, there’s just one verb to express expectation:očekivati (očekuje) expect (+ A/clause)It’s simple to use – what is expected is in A:Očekivali smo tvog brata A . We expected your brother.

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 69 Memories, Expectaons and Fear 401 / 600Now, all the constructions described above can be also used with clauses: you canboth be afraid that something might happen or you can expect that something isgoing to happen.All such clauses start with da and in principle can use any tense, e.g. future:Ana N se bojiOčekujemdaće biti hladno.nećemo pobijediti.bojati seočekivatiThe usual rules of word order in clauses apply:Ana N se boji [da¹ će² biti hladno]. Ana is afraid that it will be cold.bojati seThe verb očekivati (očekuje) expect is, of course mostly used to expect futureevents.With both expectations and fear, it’s common – but not obligatory! – to expressfuture events with the present tense of perf. verbs. It’s the twist: it’s both OK to say:Očekujem da će pasti kiša N . ‘I expect that rain will fall.’očekivatiOčekujem da padne kiša N . (more or less the same meaning) očekivati | pastiWe have here used the perf. verb pasti (padne, pao) fall. Maybe there’s smalldifference in meaning – if you use the present tense of perf. verbs, it’s a bit lesscertain, and more speculative.With the impf. verbs, it’s not possible to use present tense to refer to future eventsin such clauses – if you use the present tense, it refers to ongoing processes:Očekujem da će padati kiša N . ‘I expect that rain will be falling.’ (later) očekivatiOčekujem da pada kiša N . ‘I expect that rain is falling.’ (now)očekivati(Of course, this applies to the verb (bude) as well, it behaves as any perf. verb here.)The same holds for expressing fear, with an important detail – the third twist – if youuse perf. verbs in present to refer to future, possible events, they must be negated:Bojim se da će pasti kiša N . ‘I’m afraid that rain will fall.’bojati seBojim se da ne padne kiša N . (more or less the same meaning) bojati se | pastiThis negation is ‘empty’, it’s just a grammatical feature. (Recall, ‘empty’ negationsalso appear with dok + perf. verb; it was introduced back in 54 When, While, Until,Before, After). If we use a negative-demanding word as e.g. nitko, the sentencesounds wrong and ungrammatical:(wrong!) Bojim se da nitko N ne dođe. "I’m afraid nobody will bojati se | doćicome."That’s because the negation has no effect, it’s an ‘empty’ negation, it carries nomeaning, other words are not negated. The following sentence, however, iscompletely acceptable:

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 69 Memories, Expectaons and Fear 400 / 600

content clause must be used:

Zapamtio sam [da moram zatvoriti prozor A ]. I ‘memorized’ I have to close the

window. (i.e. I know it, I’ll do it, you don’t have to remind me)

The basic verb to express fear in Croatian is:

bojati (boji) se² (+ G/inf/clause)

For example:

Ana N se boji zmija G . Ana is afraid of snakes.

bojati se

Another way is using the noun strah + the verb biti (je² +) + one who’s afraid in A (+

what is afraid of in G):

Anu A je strah N zmija G . Ana is afraid of snakes.

Anu A je bio strah N zmija G . Ana was afraid of snakes.

Anu A je bilo strah N zmija G . (the same meaning, more common)

The noun strah fear is the subject, as you can see from the past tense, but the

sentence is usually treated as impersonal, so using neuter singular in the past is

actually more common. As with other expressions where the person who feels

something is not in the nominative case, the person is nevertheless usually placed at

the first position.

The complex biti (je² +) strah behaves like one compound verb. What if you want to

convert it to a verbal noun (i.e. gerund)? You would use then just strah, but what

causes fear is then expressed with od¨ + G:

strah od zmija fear of snakes

strah od letenja fear of flying

There’s one more way, less used in speech, more in writing – the verb pair:

plašiti ~ u- scare

The verbs can be used in both ways:

Ana N se plaši zmija G . Ana is scared of snakes.

Anu A plaše zmije N . Snakes scare Ana.

You can also be afraid to do something – then just use the inf of the verb (which can

have its objects and so on):

Goran N se boji voziti bicikl A . Goran is afraid to drive bicycle.

bojati se

Anu A je strah N roniti. Ana is afraid to dive.

On the other hand, there’s just one verb to express expectation:

očekivati (očekuje) expect (+ A/clause)

It’s simple to use – what is expected is in A:

Očekivali smo tvog brata A . We expected your brother.

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