Breakdown of Publika se zabavljala s plesačima.
s
with
publika
audience
zabavljati se
to have fun
plesač
dancer
Questions & Answers about Publika se zabavljala s plesačima.
Why is the verb zabavljala in the feminine singular if an audience is a group of people?
In Croatian, the word publika is grammatically a feminine singular noun, ending in -a. Even though it refers to a group of people, the verb must agree with its grammatical gender and number, so we use the feminine singular past tense form zabavljala.
How do we get the form plesačima?
This is the instrumental plural form of the masculine noun plesač (dancer). For regular masculine nouns, you form the instrumental plural by adding the ending -ima to the base word. It is in this case because it follows the preposition s (with).
Why do we need the word se in this sentence?
The verb zabavljati se is reflexive, which is why se is used here. While zabavljati without se means to entertain someone else, adding se changes the meaning to entertaining oneself, or having fun.
Does the preposition s always require the instrumental case?
Yes, when s (or sa) means with in the sense of company or interaction, like having fun with the dancers, it always requires the following noun to be in the instrumental case.
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