Demonstratives of Quantity
When you are cooking and need to show exactly how much of an ingredient to add to your recipe, Croatian uses a special set of demonstratives to express specific quantities.
Just like other demonstratives, there are three words that change depending on distance:
- ovoliko: this much (an amount right here near me)
- toliko: that much (an amount near you, or a previously mentioned quantity)
- onoliko: that much (an amount over there, far from both of us)
Because these words express a quantity, they require the noun that follows them to be in the Genitive case. Since ingredients are usually uncountable nouns, you will see them in the genitive singular (for example, brašno becomes brašna, and voda becomes vode).
Unlike demonstratives of quality (ovakav, takav, etc.), words for quantity do not act like adjectives. They are invariable, meaning ovoliko, toliko, and onoliko never change their own endings.
Here is how you use ovoliko to indicate an amount right in front of you:
| You must add this much flour and sugar. | Moraš dodati ovoliko brašna i šećera. |
| Why are you mixing this much batter? | Zašto miješaš ovoliko smjese? |
When you are talking about an amount near the person you are speaking to, or referring to a measurement you just discussed, use toliko:
| This measurement is exact, put that much butter. | Ova mjera je točna, stavi toliko maslaca. |
| Add that much spice into the mixture! | Dodaj toliko začina u smjesu! |
If the ingredient is across the kitchen or further away from both of you, use onoliko:
| The cook poured that much water into the dough. | Kuhar je ulio onoliko vode u tijesto. |
| We need that much salt for this measurement. | Treba nam onoliko soli za ovu mjeru. |
You can easily contrast different measurements by using multiple quantity demonstratives in the same sentence. If the ingredient is clear from context, you do not even need to repeat the noun:
| There is this much sugar in the bowl, but we need that much. | U posudi ima ovoliko šećera, ali nam treba toliko. |
| Add either this much flour or that much rice into the bowl. | Dodaj ili ovoliko brašna ili toliko riže u posudu. |
