Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Croatian

### Abstract and Collective Nouns with -stvo

In Croatian, you can easily derive abstract concepts, collective groups, and systems by adding the suffix **-stvo** to an existing noun or adjective stem. Nouns created this way are always neuter.

For example, taking a root like *brat* (brother) and adding the suffix gives us the collective abstract noun **bratstvo** (brotherhood). Similarly, you can form words for status, relationship, or skill, such as **članstvo** (membership) and **majstorstvo** (mastery).

{{item:1099839}}

{{item:1099842}}

{{item:1099848}}

### Rituals and Bloodlines

When discussing secret societies, you will often encounter specialized vocabulary alongside these derived nouns. A key term in this theme is **obred** (ritual). Note how the following examples combine new vocabulary with the abstract nouns we just learned, such as **srodstvo** (kinship).

{{item:1099845}}

{{item:1099863}}

### The Suffix -štvo

Because of phonetic rules in Croatian, the suffix frequently transforms into **-štvo** when the root word ends in certain consonants. 

The function and meaning remain exactly the same: creating neuter nouns that express unity, alliances, or abstract qualities. You will see this ending in words like **zajedništvo** (unity), **savezništvo** (alliance), and **neprijateljstvo** (hostility).

{{item:1099852}}

{{item:1099854}}

{{item:1099858}}

This suffix is incredibly productive. It is also used to derive concepts of behavior or involvement, such as **junaštvo** (heroism) from *junak* (hero), and **sudioništvo** (participation) from *sudionik* (participant).

{{item:1099861}}

{{item:1099866}}

Abstract and collective nouns (-stvo, -štvo)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and to be (sam, si, je)

Noun genders (-Ø, -a, -o/-e)

Demonstrative pronouns (ovaj, ova, ovo)

Plural pronouns and to be (smo, ste, su)

Masculine plural nouns (-i)

Feminine plural nouns (-e)

Neuter plural nouns (-a)

Full verb to be (jesam, jesi)

Negative verb to be (nisam, nisi)

Yes/no questions (je li)

Wh- questions (tko, gdje)

Formal vs informal address (ti vs Vi)

Regular present tense (-ati)

Regular present tense (-iti)

Regular present tense (-jeti)

Verb negation (ne)

The verb to have (imati / nemati)

Inanimate direct objects

Feminine direct objects (-u)

Plural direct objects (-e, -a)

Accusative pronouns (me, te, ga, ju)

Adjective agreement

Plural adjectives

Accusative adjectives

Numbers 1 to 10 (jedan, dva, tri)

The locative case (-u)

Feminine locative (-i)

The verb to go (ići)

Destination (u, na)

The genitive case (-a)

Accusative pronouns (nas, vas, ga, ih)

Animate masculine accusative (-a)

Adjective agreement for animate masculine (-og, -eg)

The verb can (moći)

The verb must (morati)

The verb to want (htjeti, hoću)

The future tense (ću/ćeš + infinitive)

The past tense: l-participle (radio, radila)

Past tense word order (Prvo sam radio...)

Past tense with plural subjects (-li, -le, -la)

Feminine genitive singular (-e)

Possession and origin (od, iz)

Negative existence (nema)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Genitive plural (-a)

Numbers 11 to 20

Past tense negation (nisam)

Past tense questions (jeste li)

Dative singular

Dative pronouns (ti, mu, joj)

Past tense negation (nisam, nisi...)

Double object pronouns (mu ga, ti ju...)

Reflexive verbs (se)

Reflexive clitic word order

Commands and requests (radi, radite)

Plural demonstratives (ovi, ove, ova)

Possessive determiners (moj, naš, njegov)

Greetings (Dobar dan, doviđenja)

The body: Boli me glava

Directions (lijevo, desno, ravno)

There is, there are (ima)

Politeness (molim vas, hvala lijepa)

How you feel (Sviđa mi se)

Counting by tens to 100 (trideset, četrdeset...)

Quantifiers with the genitive case (malo, puno...)

Adjective agreement in the genitive singular (-og, -e)

Adjective agreement in the genitive plural (-ih)

Genitive prepositions (kod, do, bez...)

Asking what kind and which (kakav, koji)

Possessive determiners (njegov, njezin...)

Possessives in the accusative case

The reflexive possessive (svoj)

Indefinite pronouns (netko, nešto, neki)

Negative pronouns (nitko, ništa)

The verb to need (trebati)

Reciprocal verbs (se)

Introduction to verbal aspect

Perfective verbs with prefixes

Perfective verbs with stem changes

Irregular perfective verbs

Aspect in the past tense

Aspect in the future tense

Vehicular motion (voziti se, putovati)

Arrival and departure ('doći', 'otići')

Entering and exiting ('ući', 'izaći')

Singular accompaniment ('s', 'sa')

Question	Answer
brotherhood	bratstvo
It is considered that this brotherhood keeps an old secret.	Smatra se da ovo bratstvo čuva staru tajnu.
Whom does the brotherhood trust?	Kome bratstvo vjeruje?
membership	članstvo
The membership in the society is hidden.	Članstvo u društvu je skriveno.
What is required for the membership?	Što se traži za članstvo?
ritual	obred
Their ritual begins in the middle of the night.	Njihov obred počinje usred noći.
It is known that the ritual is dangerous.	Zna se da je obred opasan.
mastery	majstorstvo
Your mastery with the sword is clear.	Tvoje majstorstvo s mačem je jasno.
The candidate must prove his mastery.	Kandidat mora dokazati svoje majstorstvo.
unity	zajedništvo
Whom does our unity bother?	Kome smeta naše zajedništvo?
This ritual will create a strong unity among the brothers.	Ovaj obred će stvoriti snažno zajedništvo među braćom.
alliance	savezništvo
Their alliance is destroyed because of betrayal.	Njihovo savezništvo je uništeno zbog izdaje.
It is assumed that they are offering an alliance.	Pretpostavlja se da nude savezništvo.
hostility	neprijateljstvo
Where does that hostility come from?	Odakle dolazi to neprijateljstvo?
Our hostility must not become known.	Naše neprijateljstvo ne smije postati poznato.
heroism	junaštvo
For what is heroism rewarded?	Za što se nagrađuje junaštvo?
Your heroism is known to everyone.	Tvoje junaštvo je svima poznato.
kinship	srodstvo
Kinship by blood is not enough for the membership.	Srodstvo po krvi nije dovoljno za članstvo.
It is believed that a hidden kinship exists.	Vjeruje se da postoji skriveno srodstvo.
participation	sudioništvo
Your participation is strictly forbidden.	Vaše sudioništvo je strogo zabranjeno.
His participation in the crime was discovered.	Otkriveno je njegovo sudioništvo u zločinu.
to join	pridružiti se
I want to join your club.	Želim se pridružiti vašem klubu.
He joined the brotherhood last year.	Pridružio se bratstvu prošle godine.

Contributors