Breakdown of Sjednite ovdje i odmarajte se.
ovdje
here
i
and (additive)
odmarati se
to rest
sjesti
to sit down
Questions & Answers about Sjednite ovdje i odmarajte se.
Both sjednite and odmarajte are commands, but why do their endings look different?
Both verbs are in the polite or plural command form, which ends in -te. However, the letters before it depend on the verb's base form. Verbs like sjesti (to sit) use an -i- to make sjednite, while verbs like odmarati (to rest) use an -aj- to make odmarajte.
Who is being told to sit and rest in this sentence?
Because both verbs end in -te (sjednite, odmarajte), this command is addressed either to a group of people (plural 'you') or politely to an adult you don't know well (formal 'you'). If you were talking informally to a single friend, you would drop the -te and say sjedi ovdje i odmaraj se.
Why is the word se used at the end?
In Croatian, the verb for 'to rest' is odmarati se. It is a reflexive verb, meaning it needs that little word se (oneself) to go with it, even though we just say 'rest' in English without it.
Doesn't the word se usually have to be the second word in the sentence?
Yes, se is a 'second-position' word. However, the word i (and) connects two separate actions. For the second action, the counting resets, so se simply takes the second position right after the verb odmarajte.
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