Ona ima četrnaest godina.

From Lesson 53:Numbers 11 to 20·Croatian

Breakdown of Ona ima četrnaest godina.

ona
she
imati
to have
godina
year
četrnaest
fourteen

Questions & Answers about Ona ima četrnaest godina.

Why does the Croatian sentence use ima (has) instead of a word for 'is'?
In Croatian, you do not say that you are a certain number of years old. Instead, you say that you have a certain number of years. Ona ima literally means 'she has'.
Since she has multiple years, why doesn't the word for year end in '-e' (godine)?
This is where the rule for numbers 5 and above comes in! While you would say dvije godine (two years) with numbers 2, 3, and 4, any number from 5 onwards requires the following noun to be in the genitive plural.
But isn't godina the singular form for 'year'? Why use it with a number like fourteen?
It looks identical, but it is actually the genitive plural! The nominative singular (one year) is godina. By coincidence, the genitive plural form used after numbers 5 and above is also godina. You can always tell which one it is from the context of the number.
Does the ending -naest in četrnaest work like 'teen' in English?
Exactly! Just like English adds '-teen' to numbers (fourteen, fifteen), Croatian adds -naest to the base number. So a slightly shortened četiri (four) becomes četrnaest (fourteen).

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