Word
Ovaj automobil je iz Njemačke, a ne iz Italije.
Meaning
This car is from Germany, and not from Italy.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ovaj automobil je iz Njemačke, a ne iz Italije.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
a
and / but
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
automobil
car
Questions & Answers about Ovaj automobil je iz Njemačke, a ne iz Italije.
Why are Njemačka and Italija spelled with an -e at the end here?
The preposition iz (from) always requires the noun that follows it to take the Genitive case. Both Njemačka (Germany) and Italija (Italy) are feminine nouns that end in -a. In the Genitive case, that -a changes to an -e.
Since we are learning both iz and od for 'from', why must we use iz here?
While both mean 'from', they have different uses. You use iz when something originates or comes out of a place, like a country, city, or building. You use od when something comes from a person, or to mark a starting point in time or distance.
Why is the word for 'and' a in this sentence instead of i?
In Croatian, a is a conjunction used to show contrast. You use it when comparing opposing facts, like being from Germany versus not being from Italy. The word i is used to simply add things together without any contrast.
Why is it Ovaj automobil instead of Ovo automobil?