Breakdown of Doma nema mnogo hrane.
doma
at home / home (direction)
nemati
to not have
mnogo
much, a lot of (+ genitive)
hrana
food
Questions & Answers about Doma nema mnogo hrane.
Why is it hrane instead of hrana?
Because of the word mnogo (much). Words that express an indefinite quantity like mnogo, malo (a little), or puno (a lot) force the noun that follows into the genitive case. Since hrana (food) is a feminine noun ending in -a, its genitive form ends in -e, making it hrane.
Why does the sentence use nema? Who doesn't have food?
No specific person! In Croatian, the form nema (from the verb nemati, meaning to not have) is often used impersonally to mean 'there is no' or 'there is not'. It is the negative version of saying ima (there is).
Could I use puno instead of mnogo in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely. Both puno and mnogo mean 'much' or 'a lot' and can be used interchangeably in most situations. Puno is very common in everyday spoken Croatian, while mnogo is slightly more formal. Both of them require the following noun to be in the genitive case.
What is the difference between doma and kuća?
Kuća is the noun for 'house'. Doma is an adverb that specifically means 'at home' or 'homewards'. If you wanted to use the word kuća to say 'at home', you would have to say kod kuće (literally: at the house). Both doma and kod kuće are perfectly natural here.
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