In a traveling circus, there are many roles to fill. To talk about women in these professions, Croatian uses specific suffixes to form feminine equivalents from masculine nouns.
The Suffix -ica
The most common way to create a feminine profession is by adding -ica. This is frequently used for professions that end in -ač or a general consonant in their masculine form. For example, a male singer is a pjevač, but a female singer is a pjevačica. A male boss (šef) becomes šefica.
| Our female boss leads this famous circus. | Naša šefica vodi ovaj poznati cirkus. |
| If the female singer sings, the circus will be full. | Ako pjevačica bude pjevala, cirkus će biti pun. |
The Suffix -ka
Another common suffix is -ka. This is often added to professions that end in -ar or -er. For instance, a male journalist is a novinar, but a female journalist is a novinarka.
| The female journalist asked where the famous female dancer sleeps. | Novinarka je pitala gdje spava poznata plesačica. |
The Suffix -kinja
Some titles and roles use the suffix -kinja. For example, the feminine equivalent of a hero (junak) is junakinja, and a female candidate (kandidat) becomes kandidatkinja.
| That female dancer is the real heroine of our show. | Ta plesačica je prava junakinja naše predstave. |
| Every female candidate must have her own female hairdresser. | Svaka kandidatkinja mora imati svoju frizerku. |
Treating Them as Regular Nouns
Because all of these feminine professions end in -a (like kuharica, frizerka, or kandidatkinja), they behave exactly like regular feminine nouns. They will change their endings to fit the grammar of the sentence, such as taking the -u ending for the accusative case (when acting as a direct object or following certain prepositions) or the -e ending for the plural.
| Our female driver went to the city to pick up the female cook. | Naša vozačica je otišla u grad po kuharicu. |
| The female director chose the new female singers and female candidates. | Direktorica je odabrala nove pjevačice i kandidatkinje. |