When talking about international summits and conferences, you will frequently need to identify delegates and where they are from.
| The delegates are coming to the conference. | Delegati dolaze na konferenciju. |
| I would like to meet the representative from Croatia. | Htio bih upoznati predstavnika iz Hrvatske. |
Inhabitants ending in -ac
Male inhabitants of many countries end in the suffix -ac.
| The new representative is an American. | Novi predstavnik je Amerikanac. |
When these nouns change form for the plural or other cases, the a before the c disappears (this is known as a "fleeting a"). For example, adding the plural suffix -i turns -ac into -ci.
| The Americans and the Mexicans are sitting together in the hall. | Amerikanci i Meksikanci sjede zajedno u dvorani. |
This vowel drop happens in other grammatical cases as well, such as the instrumental.
| I would like to speak with a Mexican. | Htio bih razgovarati s jednim Meksikancem. |
Here are a few more nationalities that follow this exact pattern in the singular and plural.
| As soon as that German arrives, we will start the meeting. | Čim stigne onaj Nijemac, počet ćemo sastanak. |
| All the Germans and the Spaniards must sign the document. | Svi Nijemci i Španjolci moraju potpisati dokument. |
Inhabitants ending in -anin
Male inhabitants of continents, regions, and certain cities often end in the suffix -anin.
| Is that man really a European? | Zar je taj čovjek Europljanin? |
These nouns have a special, irregular plural form. The -in ending drops entirely before adding the plural suffix -i. Therefore, -anin becomes -ani (never -anini).
| Some Europeans are traveling to that symposium. | Neki Europljani putuju na taj simpozij. |
This same rule applies to the names of city residents, such as those from Zagreb (Zagrepčanin) or Split (Splićanin).
| A resident of Split explained that problem to me. | Jedan Splićanin mi je objasnio taj problem. |
| Residents of Zagreb and Split are good collaborators. | Zagrepčani i Splićani su dobri suradnici. |
Putting it all together
Now you are ready to identify and mix with all the representatives at the summit, keeping their plural endings straight!
| The Europeans and the Japanese have a meeting this afternoon. | Europljani i Japanci imaju sastanak danas popodne. |
