Indefinite Quantities
When expressing an indefinite amount—such as "many," "several," or "a couple"—the following noun must be in the genitive plural.
Common quantity words include nekoliko (several), mnogo (many), dosta (plenty), previše (too many), manje (fewer), and par (a couple).
Forming the Genitive Plural
For regular nouns across all three genders, the genitive plural ends in -a.
- Masculine: Add -a (primjer → primjera). If the noun ends in a consonant cluster, an extra "a" is often inserted before the final consonant to ease pronunciation (student → studenata).
- Neuter: Change the final -o or -e to -a (pitanje → pitanja).
- Feminine: The written ending remains -a, so it looks identical to the singular form in writing (slika → slika).
| I have several questions. | Imam nekoliko pitanja. |
| There are many students there. | Tamo je mnogo studenata. |
| We have plenty of examples. | Imamo dosta primjera. |
| She does not want too many pictures. | Ona ne želi previše slika. |
| We need fewer cars in the city. | Trebamo manje automobila u gradu. |
| I will buy a couple of apples. | Kupit ću par jabuka. |
Measurements and Groups
Nouns that represent units of measurement (kilogram, gram) or collections (grupa, većina) also require the genitive.
Use the genitive plural for countable items (like apples or students) and the genitive singular for uncountable substances (like sugar).
| We need five kilograms of apples. | Trebamo pet kilograma jabuka. |
| She is buying ten grams of sugar. | Ona kupuje deset grama šećera. |
| A group of students is studying Croatian. | Grupa studenata uči hrvatski. |
| Most friends are not working today. | Većina prijatelja danas ne radi. |
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