Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Croatian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Danas se nije brijao.
Why do we need the word se in this sentence?
In Croatian, the verb brijati (to shave) is often used with the reflexive pronoun se (oneself). Since the subject is shaving his own face, we use brijati se (to shave oneself). If he were shaving someone else, like a customer in a barbershop, we would drop the se.
Why does se come right after Danas instead of next to the verb?
The word se is an enclitic, which is a short, unstressed word. Croatian has a strict rule that enclitics must usually take the second position in a sentence or clause. Because Danas (today) takes up the first position, se must immediately follow it, even if that pushes it away from the verb.
How do we know the sentence means "he" when there is no word for "he" (on)?
Croatian often drops subject pronouns because the verbs already give you all the clues you need! The helper verb nije tells us it is the third person (he, she, or it), and the past tense action verb brijao ends in -o, which is the masculine ending. Together, they clearly mean "he did not".
How is the negative past tense formed here?