Breakdown of Novi šef ne razumije mladog radnika.
nov
new
ne
no, not
razumjeti
to understand
šef
boss
mlad
young
radnik
worker
Questions & Answers about Novi šef ne razumije mladog radnika.
Why does the adjective for "young" end in -og (mladog)?
In this sentence, the young worker is the direct object, so it must be in the accusative case. Because radnik (worker) is a masculine noun that refers to a living person (animate), any adjective describing it gets the -og ending. If the object were an inanimate thing, the adjective would not take this ending.
Why does radnik change to radnika here?
Radnik is the basic dictionary form. However, because the worker is the direct object of the verb "understand" (razumije), we need to use the accusative case. For masculine nouns that represent living beings (animate nouns), we must add an -a to the end in the accusative case.
Novi šef (the new boss) is also a living, masculine person. Why don't those words get the -og and -a endings too?
Because the new boss is the subject of the sentence—the person performing the action. The subject always stays in the basic dictionary form, which is called the nominative case. The special accusative endings are only applied to the direct object (the person receiving the action), which is mladog radnika in this sentence.
Why does "does not understand" translate to just two words (ne razumije)?
In Croatian, you do not use helping verbs like "do" or "does" to form negative sentences. You simply put the negative word ne right in front of the main verb.
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