Whether you are at work or school, keep your desk organized with proper stationery terms.
Basic Desk Essentials
You will often need a planner (rokovnik), a highlighter or marker (marker), and a calculator (kalkulator).
| Buy me a new planner, a yellow marker, and a calculator for work. | Kupi mi novi rokovnik, žuti marker i kalkulator za posao. |
Correcting Mistakes
When you make a mistake, you can use correction fluid (korektor) or an eraser (gumica).
| Can you lend me the correction fluid? | Možeš li mi posuditi korektor? |
When a feminine noun ending in -a (like gumica) is the direct object of an action, it takes the accusative ending -u (gumicu). You might also need adhesive tape (selotejp) to fix torn pages.
| If you made a mistake, take the correction fluid and the eraser, not the tape. | Ako si pogriješio, uzmi korektor i gumicu, a ne selotejp. |
Fastening Pages Together
To keep loose documents organized, use a stapler (klamerica) or paperclips (spajalice, singular: spajalica).
| Your stapler and paperclips are here, but I don't see the ruler. | Tvoja klamerica i spajalice su ovdje, ali ne vidim ravnalo. |
When doing something "with" a tool, Croatian uses the instrumental case. For a feminine noun like klamerica, this adds the ending -om (klamericom).
| We cannot staple this thick paper, give me the tape. | Ne možemo spojiti ovaj debeli papir klamericom, daj mi selotejp. |
Geometry and Drawing Tools
If you are drawing or working with pencils, a ruler (ravnalo) and a pencil sharpener (šiljilo) are indispensable.
| Put the pencil sharpener, the eraser, and the calculator into the bag. | Stavi šiljilo, gumicu i kalkulator u torbu. |
When expressing that you are "without" (bez) something, the following noun must be in the genitive case. Masculine and neuter nouns generally take an -a ending (like kalkulatora and ravnala), while feminine nouns take an -e ending (like klamerice):
| I cannot work without a calculator, a ruler, and a stapler. | Ne mogu raditi bez kalkulatora, ravnala i klamerice. |