Breakdown of Nisam dobio tvoju poruku.
nisam
am not (nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu)
tvoj
your (informal)
dobiti
to get / to win
poruka
message
Questions & Answers about Nisam dobio tvoju poruku.
Why does the word for message end in -u here (poruku)?
The basic dictionary word is poruka (a feminine noun ending in -a). Because it is the direct object of the sentence—the thing that you didn't get—it must be in the accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -a, the ending changes to -u. The possessive word for your also has to match, changing from tvoja to tvoju.
How do we know the gender of the person saying this sentence?
We can tell the speaker is male because the main past tense verb is dobio. In Croatian, past tense verbs change depending on who is doing the action. If a woman were speaking, she would use the feminine form and say Nisam dobila.
Where is the word I in this sentence?
It's built right into the word nisam. Nisam is the negative I form of the helper verb used for the past tense. Because nisam already tells us exactly who is speaking, the actual pronoun ja (I) isn't needed and is usually left out.
If I wanted to use the accusative clitics from this lesson and just say I didn't get it, how would I do that?
Because poruka is a feminine noun, you would replace tvoju poruku with the feminine accusative clitic for it, which is je or ju. You would say Nisam je dobio or Nisam ju dobio. The short clitic pronoun steps in right after the helper verb nisam.
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