Expressing Quantities
In Croatian, when you describe a quantity of something—like a "box of coffee" or a "liter of water"—the substance being measured takes the genitive case. This works like the word "of" in English.
The Feminine Genitive Singular (-e)
For regular feminine nouns (which usually end in -a), form the genitive singular by replacing the -a with -e.
- kava (coffee) becomes kave (of coffee)
- voda (water) becomes vode (of water)
- torta (cake) becomes torte (of cake)
When these phrases are the object of a verb, the container word takes the accusative case (e.g., kutija becomes kutiju), but the substance inside takes the genitive case (kave).
| I do not have a box of coffee. | Nemam kutiju kave. |
When asking for liquids, you might use a liter (litra). Notice that masculine nouns, like sok (juice), take a different ending (-a) in the genitive:
| I want a liter of water and a glass of juice. | Želim litru vode i čašu soka. |
Food and Containers
You will frequently use the genitive case when talking about food. For example, a bowl (zdjelu, accusative) of pasta (tjestenine, genitive):
| The cook needs a bowl of pasta. | Kuhar treba zdjelu tjestenine. |
Here are more examples using a slice (kriška) and a spoon (žlica):
| I can eat a slice of cake. | Mogu jesti krišku torte. |
| There is only a spoonful of rice in the bowl. | U zdjeli je samo žlica riže. |
Bags and Cubes
This same pattern applies to other measurements, like a bag (vrećica) of salad or a cube (kocka) of chocolate:
| I need a bag of salad and a box of rice. | Trebam vrećicu salate i kutiju riže. |
| The child is eating a square of chocolate. | Dijete jede kocku čokolade. |
