Questions & Answers about Donijeli smo kruh gospođi.
Why is the word for "lady" gospođi instead of gospođa?
Gospođi is in the dative case because the lady is the indirect object of the sentence — she is the person receiving the bread. For feminine nouns that end in -a like gospođa, the dative singular is formed by changing the -a to an -i.
The word "bread" is the direct object. Why doesn't kruh have a special ending?
Kruh is actually in the accusative case here! However, because it is a masculine noun that refers to a non-living thing (inanimate), its accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.
Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?
Croatian usually drops subject pronouns like mi (we) because the verbs already tell you who is doing the action. Here, the "we" is shown by the helper verb smo and the -li ending on the main verb donijeli, which is used for plural subjects in the past tense.
Could I start the sentence with Mi (We)?
Yes, you can add mi at the beginning for emphasis: Mi smo donijeli kruh gospođi. But when you drop mi, the helper verb smo has to stay in the second position of the sentence, which is why it tucks in right after donijeli here.
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