Learn Croatian: Tko su ove dvije osobe? - Who are these two people?

Tko su ove dvije osobe?

Who are these two people?

Breakdown of Tko su ove dvije osobe?

this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)

dvije

two (feminine)

Questions & Answers about Tko su ove dvije osobe?

Why is the word for "two" dvije instead of dva?

In Croatian, the number "two" changes depending on the gender of the noun it counts. Since osoba (person) is a feminine noun, we must use the feminine form dvije. If you were counting masculine or neuter nouns, you would use dva.

Is osobe just the regular plural form of the word?

It looks exactly like the regular plural, but technically it is the genitive singular form! In Croatian, after the numbers 2, 3, and 4, nouns must take the genitive singular. For a feminine noun ending in -a like osoba, this form happens to end in -e (osobe).

If the grammar rule makes osobe singular, why is the verb su (are) in the plural?

Even though the numbers 2, 3, and 4 force the noun into a grammatically singular form (the genitive singular), the real-world meaning is still plural because you are talking about multiple people. The verb reflects this actual meaning, so we use the plural su (are) rather than the singular je (is).

Why do we use ove for "these"?