Question 1

Why does nismo translate to "we didn't"? Isn't it "we aren't"?

Accepted Answer

You're right that nismo literally means "we are not". However, Croatian forms the past tense using the helper verb biti (to be) plus the past action word (here, dobili). So nismo dobili literally means "we are not gotten", which is how Croatian forms the past tense for "we didn't get".

Question 2

How would I replace poziv with a pronoun to say "We didn't get it"?

Accepted Answer

Because poziv is a masculine noun, you replace it with the masculine accusative clitic pronoun ga (him/it). The sentence would become Nismo ga dobili. Notice that the short pronoun ga tucks into the second position in the sentence, right after nismo.

Question 3

Is poziv in the accusative case here? It looks exactly like the dictionary form.

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is the direct object receiving the action, so it's in the accusative case! Poziv (call or invitation) is a masculine noun. For masculine nouns that are non-living (inanimate), the accusative form is identical to the dictionary (nominative) form. If it were a living thing, it would take an -a ending.

Question 4

Why doesn't the sentence start with mi (we)?

Accepted Answer

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns like mi because the verbs do all the work. The helper verb nismo (we are not) and the plural -i ending on dobili already make it perfectly clear that "we" are the ones doing the action.

Nismo dobili poziv.

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