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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 80 Present Adverbs and Adjecves 451 / 600

She saw birds flying.

In Croatian, one way to express this is using kako (usually meaning how) or da with a

small clause (with normal tense rules) after it:

Vidjela je ptice A kako lete.

Vidjela je ptice A da lete.

Another option is to use kad(a) and a clause. Recall this line from the example in 52

Stand, Become, Exist, Cease:

Čulo se samo kako ptice N pjevaju. Only birds singing could be heard.

Here the birds singing is actually the subject of the verb čuti (čuje) hear, used in the

mediopassive construction.

Since present adverbs stand for action performed by the noun after them (tekuća

voda = flowing water = water that flows), they cannot be used for expressions like

bathing costume: the costume doesn’t bathe, it’s just used when someone is bathing.

Therefore, there’s another form, used only as adjective, but looking really similar to

the present adverb (the form has no name, unfortunately). For verbs with infinitive

in -ati, it’s created by transforming that ending to -aći:

kupati bathe → kupaći

spavati sleep → spavaći

šivati sew → šivaći

žvakati (žvače) chew → žvakaći

(Compare them to the present adverbs of these verbs, e.g. kupajući and spavajući.)

If verbs don’t end in -ati, it’s made from their pres-3 form in a way that the result

always ends in -aći:

jesti (jede, jeo) eat → jedaći

These adjectives are used in set expressions only, e.g.:

brijaći aparat electric razor

igraća karta playing card

kupaći kostim bathing costume

kupaće gaće swim briefs

spavaća soba bedroom

šivaća mašina sewing machine

žvakaća guma chewing gum

The adjective kupaći is virtually used only to describe those two nouns, so it’s

colloquially very often used on it’s own, nouns are omitted. When in singular

masculine it’s costume, and in plural neuter it’s briefs. Of course, it still changes as

any adjective:

Otišla je bez kupaćeg G . (colloq.) She left without the swimming

otići past-f

costume.

Zaboravio sam kupaće A . (colloq.) I forgot my swim briefs.

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