Breakdown of Vidim trinaest ljudi i četrnaest automobila.
ljudi
people
i
and (additive)
automobil
car
vidjeti
to see
Questions & Answers about Vidim trinaest ljudi i četrnaest automobila.
Why do we use automobila instead of the regular plural automobili?
Because of the numbers! In Croatian, numbers 5 and above (like trinaest and četrnaest) require the following noun to be in the genitive plural. That is why we use the genitive plural form automobila (of cars).
If numbers 5 and above need the genitive plural, why does ljudi look like a normal plural?
The word for people (ljudi) is a bit special. Its standard nominative plural is ljudi, and its genitive plural happens to be exactly the same: ljudi. It is in the genitive plural here, but it just doesn't look any different!
Doesn't the -a ending on automobila usually mean a word is feminine and singular?
Yes, -a is the standard ending for singular feminine words (like žena or voda). However, -a is also the standard ending for the genitive plural of masculine nouns. Since automobil is masculine, its genitive plural becomes automobila.
Why isn't the word for I (ja) included before vidim?
In Croatian, you usually drop the subject pronoun because the verb itself tells you who is doing the action. The -m ending on vidim specifically means I see, making ja unnecessary.