Questions & Answers about Tamo spava devetnaest mačaka.
Why is the verb spava singular when there are nineteen cats?
In Croatian, when you use a number from five onwards (like devetnaest), the verb takes the third-person singular form. Think of it like saying a single group of nineteen cats is sleeping.
Why is the word for cats mačaka instead of the regular plural mačke?
Because of the number nineteen (devetnaest). In Croatian, numbers from five and up require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive plural form. For the feminine noun mačka (cat), the genitive plural is mačaka.
Where does the extra 'a' in the middle of mačaka come from? The base word is mačka.
When making the genitive plural of mačka, the normal ending is dropped. This would leave the hard-to-pronounce consonants čk at the end. To fix this, Croatian inserts an extra a (known as a fleeting a) between the consonants, making it mačaka.
Could I change the word order to Devetnaest mačaka spava tamo?
Yes, word order in Croatian is quite flexible. Tamo spava devetnaest mačaka puts a bit more focus on the location (there), but starting with the number of cats is perfectly correct and means the exact same thing.