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Croatian

In Croatian, certain nouns refer to groups of people collectively. The three most common collective nouns are **djeca** (children), **braća** (brothers), and **gospoda** (gentlemen).

### Tricky Agreement Rules

These collective nouns have a unique mixed-agreement rule: they look like feminine singular nouns because they end in **-a**, but their meaning is plural.

- **Adjectives** modifying them take the **feminine singular** form.
- **Verbs** agreeing with them take the **plural** form.

For example, when describing noisy children, the adjective is feminine singular (**bučna**), but the verb is plural (**su**).

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This same pattern applies to **gospoda** and **braća**.

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### Declining Collective Nouns

Because these collective nouns behave grammatically like feminine singular words, they decline exactly like regular nouns ending in **-a** (such as **žena**). Any attached adjectives also follow the feminine singular declension.

For instance, the preposition **s** (with) requires the instrumental case. **Braća** becomes **braćom**, and its adjectives take the feminine singular instrumental ending (**-om**).

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Collective nouns (djeca, braća, gospoda)

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
noisy	bučan
playground	igralište
The noisy children are on the playground, and nobody is sleeping.	Bučna djeca su na igralištu, a nitko ne spava.
distinguished	ugledan
gentlemen (collective)	gospoda
The distinguished gentlemen are sitting in the restaurant and drinking wine.	Ugledna gospoda sjede u restoranu i piju vino.
brothers (collective)	braća
united	složan
Her brothers are united and they always work together.	Njezina braća su složna i uvijek rade zajedno.
I am talking with your noisy brothers.	Razgovaram s tvojom bučnom braćom.
Good children are playing on the new playground.	Dobra djeca se igraju na novom igralištu.
Waiter, the distinguished gentlemen are waiting for the bill!	Konobaru, ugledna gospoda čekaju račun!
My brothers are not united and they never agree.	Moja braća nisu složna i nikada se ne slažu.
The playground is empty because the tired children are sleeping.	Igralište je prazno jer umorna djeca spavaju.

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