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Imamo litru mlijeka, ali nemamo vode.

Imamo litru mlijeka, ali nemamo vode.
We have a liter of milk, but we do not have water.
From Lesson 46:Feminine genitive singular (-e)·Croatian

Questions & Answers about Imamo litru mlijeka, ali nemamo vode.

Why does voda change to vode at the end of the sentence?
The verb nemati (to not have) requires its object to be in the genitive case. Voda is a feminine noun ending in -a. To form the genitive singular for these nouns, the -a changes to -e, giving us vode.
Why do we say litru (liter) but then vode (water)? Aren't they both the objects we have or don't have?
Yes, but Croatian treats having and not having differently! Positive verbs like imamo (we have) use the accusative case, changing the feminine noun litra to litru. However, negative verbs like nemamo (we don't have) require the genitive case, changing voda to vode.
Why is milk written as mlijeka instead of mlijeko?
Because we are talking about a liter of milk. When expressing a quantity or amount of something, Croatian uses the genitive case. Mlijeko is a neuter noun, and its genitive singular form ends in -a, making it mlijeka.
Why is nemamo written as a single word instead of ne imamo?
For most Croatian verbs, you make them negative by putting the separate word ne in front. But imati (to have) is a famous exception where the negative word attaches directly to the verb, creating forms like nemam, nemaš, and nemamo.

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