Questions & Answers about Njegova glava je velika.
Why does the word for "his" end in "-a" (Njegova)?
In Croatian, possessive words like "his" act like adjectives and must match the gender of the thing being owned, not the person who owns it! Since glava (head) is a feminine noun, the base word njegov (his) gets the feminine ending "-a" to become Njegova.
Why is it velika instead of just velik?
Just like the possessive word, descriptive adjectives must match the noun's gender. Because glava is a feminine noun, the adjective for "big" changes from its dictionary form (velik) to the feminine form (velika). Notice how Njegova, glava, and velika all rhyme by ending in "-a"!
The verb je (is) is the third word here. I thought it always had to be the second word?
The verb je is a "clitic", which means it is a short, unstressed word that generally prefers the second position in a sentence. However, Croatian often treats a closely connected phrase like Njegova glava (His head) as a single block that takes up the "first position". So, placing je right after the whole subject phrase is completely correct and natural.
How would this sentence change if we wanted to say "Her head is big"?
You would only change the possessive word. The Croatian base word for "her" is njen (or njezin). Because it still has to match the feminine noun glava, you would add an "-a" to the end to make it feminine too: Njena glava je velika.
Learn Njegova glava je velika and more in Croatian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free