Possessives in the accusative case

Possessives in the Accusative Case

When possessive determiners (my, your, his, etc.) describe the direct object of a sentence, they must be in the accusative case. The ending they take depends entirely on the gender of the noun and whether it is "animate" (alive).

Feminine Objects

Feminine nouns change their -a ending to -u in the accusative. Possessive determiners do exactly the same. For example, tvoja (your) becomes tvoju, and vaša (your, plural/formal) becomes vašu.

I support your idea.
Podržavam tvoju ideju.
I respect your decision.
Poštujem vašu odluku.

Masculine Inanimate and Neuter Objects

If the object is a neuter noun or an inanimate masculine noun (a thing or a concept, rather than a person or animal), the accusative form is identical to the nominative (dictionary) form. The possessive determiner doesn't change at all.

We appreciate his suggestion.
Cijenimo njegov prijedlog.
She appreciates my opinion.
Ona cijeni moje mišljenje.

Notice how these endings combine in a sentence with multiple objects of different genders:

They appreciate our advice and our idea.
Oni cijene naš savjet i našu ideju.

Masculine Animate Objects

When the direct object is an animate masculine noun (like a person or an animal), the rules change. The noun gets an -a ending, and the possessive determiner takes an -eg (or sometimes -og) ending. For example, tvoj (your) becomes tvojeg.

I see your brother.
Vidim tvojeg brata.

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