Question 1

Why does the sentence use studenata instead of the regular plural studenti?

Accepted Answer

Because of the number eleven (jedanaest). In Croatian, numbers 5 and above require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive plural case. The genitive plural of student is studenata.

Question 2

If there are eleven students, why is the verb singular (uči) instead of plural (uče)?

Accepted Answer

This is a special rule for numbers! When the subject of a sentence is a number from 5 upwards (like jedanaest), the verb must take the third-person singular form. You can think of it as saying 'A group of eleven students is learning Croatian.'

Question 3

I know the base word is student. Why does the genitive plural studenata have an extra 'a' before the 't'?

Accepted Answer

The normal rule for making a masculine genitive plural is adding -a to the end, which would normally give us 'studenta'. However, Croatian tries to avoid certain clunky clusters of consonants. To make it easier to pronounce, an extra vowel (called a fleeting 'a') is inserted between the 'n' and the 't', resulting in studenata.

Question 4

What case is hrvatski in here?

Accepted Answer

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being learned). Because hrvatski acts as an inanimate masculine noun in this context, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.

Jedanaest studenata uči hrvatski.

Breakdown of Jedanaest studenata uči hrvatski.

Questions & Answers about Jedanaest studenata uči hrvatski.

Learn Jedanaest studenata uči hrvatski and more in Croatian