Breakdown of Pazite na dijete.
dijete
child
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
paziti
to pay attention, to be careful
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Questions & Answers about Pazite na dijete.
Why does the verb end in -ite instead of just -i?
The ending -ite shows this is a command given to multiple people, or to one person formally. This is the plural imperative form of paziti (to pay attention / to watch out). If you were telling one friend to watch out, you would just say pazi.
Why do we use the word na here? Doesn't it usually mean 'on'?
Yes, na often means 'on', but the verb paziti naturally pairs with na to mean 'pay attention to' or 'look after'. Prepositions in Croatian often depend on the specific verb being used rather than a direct English translation.
Is dijete in a special grammatical case here?
It is in the accusative case, which is required when using paziti na. However, because dijete (child) is a neuter word, its accusative form is exactly the same as its basic dictionary form!
Since the command pazite is plural, does the child have to be plural too?
No, the plural command just means 'you all' are doing the action. Multiple people can watch over one single dijete (child). If they needed to watch several children, the sentence would change to Pazite na djecu.