Questions & Answers about Više nema nade.
Doesn't nema usually mean 'he/she/it doesn't have'?
Yes! It is the 'he/she/it' form of the negative verb nemati (to not have). However, Croatian uses this exact same word impersonally to say 'there is not' or 'there are no'. In this sentence, it doesn't refer to a specific person lacking hope, but simply states that hope doesn't exist.
Why does the word for hope end in -e (nade) instead of -a?
Because it follows nema. Whenever you use nema to mean 'there is no', the noun that is missing must be in the genitive case. The dictionary form of the word is nada (hope). Since it's a feminine noun ending in -a, its genitive ending changes to -e, giving us nade.
If više means 'more', why does the sentence translate to 'no more'?
In Croatian, combining više (more) with a negative word like nema (there is not) creates the meaning 'no more', 'no longer', or 'not anymore'. You can think of it literally as 'There is not more hope.'
Can I change the word order to Nema više nade?
Absolutely. Both Više nema nade and Nema više nade are completely natural and mean the same thing. Starting with Više just places a tiny bit more emphasis on the passing of time—that as of right now, the hope is gone.
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