2 | 1 | Lekcija 1: Odakle si?

| Where From?

Genitive case

When we want to ask someone where they are from, we use the question: Odakle si? (Where are you from?).

Odakle si?

Ja sam IZ (genitive case)

To answer the question, we use the structure: Ja sam iz… (I am from…). What follows after this sentence structure can be the name of a country or a city. For example, Ja sam iz Texasa. / Ja sam iz Austina.  The preposition “iz” in the sentence will trigger the use of the Genitive case. Here are some other examples: Ja sam iz Hrvatske. / Ja sam iz Portugala.

The two countries listed above – Hrvatska (Croatia) and Portugal (Portugal) – have a different grammatical gender. Hrvatska has feminine gender, and Portugal has masculine gender. That is why their endings differ.

In Croatian, all countries will be either masculine or feminine gender. Kosovo is the exception that has neuter gender associated with the name of the country. Other countries that end in -o / -e / -u will have masculine gender (see some examples below).

Most of the time cities will have feminine or masculine gender. Some exceptions exist: Sarajevo and Oslo are neuter gender, while Tokio is masculine gender. See more examples below.

| Countries (and/or States)

Most country names in Croatian are feminine gender.

 A certain number of countries are in masculine gender. Countries that take masculine gender can be divided into several categories.

#1 Countries that have consonant endings have masculine gender

#2 Countries that end in -o / -e / -u, but still have masculine gender

Not all countries that are masculine gender end in a consonant. For example: Meksiko je lijep i zanimljiv. Look at the following list (just as an example) of countries/states that are masculine gender:

| Some spelling modifications:

| Cities

Some city names are feminine gender, such as:

Some city names are masculine gender (consonant ending), such as:

However, not all cities that have masculine gender will end in a consonant. They might end in -o, -e, -u or -i but still have masculine gender. Look at the following list (just as an example) of cities that have masculine gender:

| Some spelling modifications:

Finally, some cities will have neuter gender:

| Islands

If we want to say that someone is from one of the Croatian islands (or any other island), we need to follow this sentence structure:

Odakle si?

Ja sam S (genitive case) 

For example:

Remember: When talking about someone who is originally from any island (not just Croatian), we use the preposition “s” – NOT the preposition “iz.”

S island (even if the island is a country itself)

IZ country/state/city (some exceptions do exist)

Exceptions (some examples):

| Countries whose names are plural

Some countries have their official names in the plural form. Look at the following examples:

The countries/states that are in plural form will:

• use the preposition “s” instead of “iz” (because they are islands)
• will have the ending “-a” (because they are masculine plural form)

2.1 Zadatak 1. Koja je ovo država?

Look at the following pictures of famous people and tell us where they are from.

| Verb IMATI (to have)

The verb imati (to have) is one of the most common verbs in Croatian. So far you encountered the verbs biti and zvati se which always go with the Nominative case. However, at this point, when using the verb IMATI, we will switch to a new Croatian case – the Accusative case.

In this unit you will learn how to make sentences with action verbs in the present tense and their complements. This requires you to learn Croatian verb conjugation–i.e., how verbs change their forms, depending on the subject, and also to learn about the case system of Croatian nouns and adjectives. In this section we will work first on the verb imati.

When we match a subject or subject pronoun to its correct verb form, we conjugate the verb. Like in Spanish (and many other languages), and as you have already seen with the verb “zvati se,” subject pronouns are often regularly omitted in Croatian.

When we conjugate Croatian verbs in the present tense, we attach endings to the verb’s stem. These endings indicate which person, or subject, (ja, ti, on/ona/ono, mi, vi, oni/one/ona) is performing the action. In the table below you will see which endings are associated with which persons (i.e., subjects/subject pronouns).

| Verb MORATI (need to)

The verb morati will change its form in the exact same way as the verb imati. Just as in English, the verb morati (“need to”) will always be followed by another verb. In today’s lesson you encountered the structure – moram posjetiti (I need to visit). As you can see, the verb morati cannot stay on its own. In the table below you will see which endings are associated with which persons (i.e., subjects/subject pronouns).

* Note: for now, we are not discussing the verb posjetiti (“to visit”). This will be discussed later in this unit. For now just remember the infinitive form of the verb: posjetiti.

2.1 Zadatak 2. Što imaš?

2.1 Zadatak 3. Imaš li…?

| Comparing Nominative and Accusative Case Endings (Singular Nouns)

The Nominative case endings of nouns are the "dictionary forms" for nouns.  Almost all of the nouns that you have encountered in Unit 1 have been in the Nominative. As you already know, the Nominative forms of:

·   masculine nouns end in a consonant

·   feminine nouns end in –а

·   neuter nouns end in –о or –e

·   masculine plural nouns mostly end in –i

·   feminine plural nouns mostly end in –e

·   neuter plural nouns mostly end in –a

The Accusative case singular form endings for

·   masculine nouns (not referring to people) are like they are in Nominative

·   feminine nouns change from: –a → –u  

·   neuter nouns are like the Nominative

The Nominative and the Accusative of inanimate Croatian nouns are presented in the table below.

2.1 Zadatak 4. Moj grad

2.1 Zadatak 5. Zagreb

(video)

Watch the video about Zagreb. Based on what you see in the video, choose the statements that are true.

| Adjective Endings In the Accusative Singular Forms

In Unit 1 you learned that the adjective endings (basic endings: -Ø, -а, -о /-е; -i, -e, -a) agree with nouns by gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and by number (singular, plural). Adjectives also agree with nouns in terms of case. That is, if a noun is the direct object and thus in the Accusative case, the adjectives that describe that noun will also need to be in the Accusative case.

Fortunately, there is only one new adjective ending that you have to learn for the Accusative case at this point.  Adjectives that agree with feminine singular nouns in the Accusative change from their Nominative adjective ending -а to the Accusative ending –u (just like the noun changes). Zagreb ima lijepu, staru katedralu.

In the Accusative, adjectives modifying neuter, masculine, and plural nouns that do not refer to people keep the same endings as in the Nominative case.

Zagreb ima lijep, moderan trg.

Zagreb ima lijepo, veliko jezero.

2.1 Zadatak 6. Kakav je grad?

Expand the text by choosing an appropriate adjective form. More than one option is possible.

Use one of the following adjectives. The important thing is to make logical sentences with correct grammatical endings.

Answer the following questions:

Images used in this document are from these sources.