Breakdown of Želim krišku rajčice i komad sira.
i
and (additive)
sir
cheese
željeti
to want
komad
piece
kriška
slice
rajčica
tomato
Questions & Answers about Želim krišku rajčice i komad sira.
Why is the word for tomato rajčice instead of rajčica?
This is the genitive case in action! Just like we say a slice OF tomato in English, Croatian uses the genitive case to show quantities or this of relationship. For feminine nouns ending in -a like rajčica, the genitive ending is -e, which gives us rajčice.
Why does kriška (slice) change to krišku?
Because it is the direct object of the verb želim (I want). When you want something, that something goes into the accusative case. For feminine nouns, the basic -a ending changes to -u in the accusative.
Why doesn't komad (piece) change its ending, while sir (cheese) changes to sira?
Komad is also a direct object here (I want a slice and a piece), so it is in the accusative case. Since it is a non-living masculine noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its basic dictionary form. Sir, however, is in the genitive case because you are asking for a piece OF cheese. Masculine nouns generally take an -a ending in the genitive, making it sira.
Where are the words for a and of in the Croatian sentence?
Croatian does not use articles like a, an, or the. As for of, Croatian doesn't need a separate word for it here. The special genitive case endings on rajčice and sira already express the idea of of or belonging!
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