Breakdown of Jučer smo se družili s poznanicima.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
jučer
yesterday
s
with
družiti se
to hang out
poznanik
acquaintance
Questions & Answers about Jučer smo se družili s poznanicima.
Why does the word for acquaintances end in -ima?
The preposition s (with) requires the Instrumental case. The base word is the masculine noun poznanik. For regular masculine nouns in the plural, the Instrumental ending is -ima, making it poznanicima.
Wait, the base word is poznanik with a k, but here it has a c (poznanicima). Why did the letter change?
This is a common sound change rule in Croatian. When adding endings that start with i (like the Instrumental plural -ima), a k at the end of a masculine noun usually changes to a c. So poznanik becomes poznanicima.
Why is there a se in this sentence?
It belongs to the verb družiti se (to socialize or hang out). In Croatian, this verb is always reflexive, meaning it must be used with the little word se.
Why do we use s instead of sa for with here?
Both mean with, but sa is only used when the following word starts with certain letters like s, z, š, or ž to make pronunciation easier. Since poznanicima starts with a p, the standard shorter form s is used.
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