EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 12 Simple Conversaons 72 / 600
Kako si? (fam.) Kako ste? (resp./group)
(Colloquially, you’ll often hear other questions with this meaning, e.g. šta ima, kako
ide, di si etc., depending on the region.) You can answer with e.g.:
Dobro, hvala. Fine, thank you.
Since the word hvala is very common in speech, it’s often simplified to fala.
It’s common to ask about family and close persons; the usual way is:
Kako je … (N) ? How is … doing?
This is quite simple, since you don’t have to do anything with the name of person
you are asking about – the nominative, default case is used. You can answer with a
short sentence, giving just the most important information, or a whole story:
Kako je Damir? How is Damir doing?
— Dobro je. He/she’s fine.
— Bolestan je. He’s sick.
— Ne znam. I don’t know.
To ask back (after you have answered) you have to use personal pronouns (I will
explain them fully in the next chapter):
Kako si ti? (fam.) Kako ste Vi? (resp./group)
Why do you have to use personal pronouns now? It’s mandatory when you switch
the subject, and someone else becomes the subject. It’s also common to start such
back questions with A kako… (actually, the word a emphasizes the change of topic).
English has only one pronoun for both meanings – you – and verb forms are always
the same. However, English once had such a difference, but it was lost. Southern US
varieties have now colloquially you (singular) vs. y’all (plural). It’s important to
remember that Croatian vi is used also to address single people you respect or
you’re not familiar with, while ti is used only for individuals you’re close with.
You can use the word kako to ask about someone’s name. The sentence uses the
same grammar as French, Italian or Spanish, and it’s actually simpler – se² is always
used:
(French) Comment t’appelles-tu?
(Italian) Come ti chiami?
lit.
(Spanish) ¿Cómo te llamas? ‘How do you call yourself?’
Kako se zoveš?
All sentences above are informal, of course: you would use them with e.g. children.
For adults you’re not familiar with – and you wouldn’t ask for their name if you were
familiar with them – you need plural: kako se zovete.
zvati
You can comment how somebody looks. The most common way is to use the verb: