Breakdown of Ona ne može naći svoju putovnicu u hotelu.
ona
she
hotel
hotel
ne
no, not
u
in, into
moći
can
naći
to find
svoj
one's own
putovnica
passport (f)
Questions & Answers about Ona ne može naći svoju putovnicu u hotelu.
Why do we use svoju here instead of njenu for "her"?
In Croatian, when the subject of the sentence owns the object, we use the reflexive possessive svoj (meaning "one's own"). Since "She" (Ona) is the one who cannot find her own passport, we must use svoju. If we used njenu, it would mean she couldn't find some other woman's passport.
Why does svoj take the form svoju in this sentence?
Svoj changes its ending to match the noun it describes, just like an adjective. The word for passport, putovnica, is a feminine noun. Because it is the direct object being found, it takes the accusative case ending -u (putovnicu). The possessive must match, so svoj becomes the feminine accusative svoju.
Why is naći used here instead of a conjugated form?
We use the infinitive form naći (to find) because it follows the verb može (can). When you have two verbs together like this, the second verb stays in its base infinitive form, just like in English.
Why does the word for hotel end in "-u" (u hotelu)?
The preposition u (in) requires the locative case when you are talking about a fixed location (where something is). Because hotel is a masculine noun, it takes the locative ending -u.
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