Welcome to the Factory
Let's look at how things operate in a factory (tvornica).
| This factory has fast production. | Ova tvornica ima brzu proizvodnju. |
| Production in the factory starts early in the morning. | Proizvodnja u tvornici počinje rano ujutro. |
The Passive Participle
We use the passive participle (trpni pridjev) to describe something that has had an action done to it—like saying a machine is "started" or a package is "wrapped." Because it acts exactly like an adjective, it must change its ending to match the noun's gender, number, and case.
Verbs ending in -nuti (The -t ending)
For verbs ending in -nuti, simply drop the final -i from the infinitive to get the masculine form, which ends in -t. Add -a for feminine and -o for neuter.
- pokrenuti (to start) becomes pokrenut (started)
- zategnuti (to tighten) becomes zategnut (tightened)
| The worker will start the new belt today. | Radnik će danas pokrenuti novu traku. |
| The belt was started on time. | Traka je pokrenuta na vrijeme. |
| Every cable must be tightened. | Svaki kabel mora biti zategnut. |
Verbs ending in -ati (The -n ending)
For verbs ending in -ati, form the passive participle by dropping -ti from the infinitive and adding -n for the basic masculine form.
- zamotati (to wrap) becomes zamotan (wrapped)
| The worker will wrap the package for the client. | Radnik će zamotati paket za klijenta. |
| The finished product is wrapped in a piece of paper. | Gotov proizvod je zamotan u komad papira. |
Verbs ending in -iti (The -en ending)
Verbs that end in -iti typically form the passive participle by dropping -iti and adding -en.
This often triggers a predictable consonant change (called jotacija) right before the ending. For example, t changes to ć, and c changes to č.
- oštetiti (to damage) becomes oštećen (damaged)
- odbaciti (to discard) becomes odbačen (discarded)
| We do not want to damage this expensive metal. | Ne želimo oštetiti ovaj skupi metal. |
| This metal is damaged and rejected. | Ovaj metal je oštećen i odbačen. |
If the verb stem ends in j, you simply add -en without any complex consonant changes:
- odvojiti (to separate) becomes odvojen (separated)
| We must separate the plastic and the glass. | Moramo odvojiti plastiku i staklo. |
| A damaged part is separated from the good products. | Oštećen dio je odvojen od dobrih proizvoda. |