Summer Market Staples
Let's start with local summer favorites. In Croatian, many familiar native fruits are feminine nouns ending in -a, such as lubenica (watermelon), breskva (peach), and trešnja (cherry).
When talking about portions or quantities, like a "half" (polovica), the noun that follows must be in the Genitive case. For feminine nouns ending in -a, this ending usually changes to -e.
You can also easily compare fruits using the word nego (than).
Berries and Figs
Other common summer treats include malina (raspberry), borovnica (blueberry), and smokva (fig). Notice how they follow the same feminine pattern.
When expressing a quantity of multiple items (plural genitive), such as "half of the raspberries" or "more blueberries", the ending is often -a.
Exotic Fruits
Now let's add some tropical flavors. Exotic fruits in Croatian are often loanwords and tend to be masculine nouns. Examples include ananas (pineapple), kokos (coconut), mango (mango), and kivi (kiwi).
Just like feminine nouns, masculine nouns change their endings in the Genitive case when you are talking about portions like a "half" (polovica) or a "third" (trećina). For these masculine fruits, you simply add -a.