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Questions & Answers about Tražim novog šefa.
Why does nov have the ending -og here?
In this sentence, nov (new) describes the boss, which is a masculine, living (animate) noun. Because the boss is the direct object of the verb tražim (I am looking for), it must be in the accusative case. For living masculine nouns, adjectives take the -og or -eg ending, making it novog.
Why is the noun šefa used instead of šef?
Just like the adjective, the noun šef (boss) must change because it is the direct object receiving the action. Masculine nouns that represent living beings (animate) add an -a in the accusative case. If you were looking for a non-living object, the masculine noun wouldn't add this ending.
The English translation says "looking for", but there is no word for "for" in the Croatian sentence. Why?
The Croatian verb tražiti (which becomes tražim for "I") naturally means "to look for" or "to seek". The "for" is already built into the meaning of the verb itself, so you don't need a separate preposition. You just put the person or thing you are looking for directly after the verb.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
The ending -im on the verb tražim already tells us that "I" am doing the action. In Croatian, subject pronouns like ja (I) are usually dropped from sentences unless you want to add special emphasis.