Breakdown of Sinoć je puno razgovarao.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
puno
a lot
sinoć
last night
razgovarati
to talk
Questions & Answers about Sinoć je puno razgovarao.
Why is the word je (is) in this sentence if it's talking about the past?
In Croatian, the past tense (called the Perfekt) is built using two pieces: a short helper verb (a present tense form of biti, to be) and an l-participle action verb. Here, je is the helper verb for the third person singular, and razgovarao is the main action. Together, je ... razgovarao translates to 'he talked' or 'he has talked'.
How do we know this means 'he' talked since the word on (he) isn't in the sentence?
Croatian often drops subject pronouns like on (he) or ona (she) because the verb endings give away who is doing the action. The ending -o on the past tense verb razgovarao tells us the subject is masculine singular. If the sentence was about a woman, the verb would end in -la (razgovarala).
Why is the helper verb je placed right after sinoć instead of next to the main verb razgovarao?
The word je is a short, unstressed word called a clitic. Clitics have a strict rule in Croatian: they almost always want to sit in the second position in a sentence. Since Sinoć takes up the first spot, je tucks in right behind it, separating it from its partner verb razgovarao.
Could I use govorio here instead of razgovarao?
You could, but the meaning shifts slightly. Govorio comes from govoriti (to speak), which can be one-sided, like giving a speech or talking at someone. Razgovarao comes from razgovarati, which specifically means to converse or have a back-and-forth conversation with someone.
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