Breakdown of Moj brat slika fotoaparatom.
brat
brother
moj
my
slikati
to photograph, to paint
fotoaparat
camera
Questions & Answers about Moj brat slika fotoaparatom.
Why is there no word for "with" before fotoaparatom?
In English we say "with a camera", but in Croatian, when you use an object as a tool or instrument to do something, you put the noun in the Instrumental case without a preposition. You only use the word for "with" (s or sa) when doing something in the company of someone or a living thing.
Wait, doesn't slika just mean "picture"? How does it mean "takes pictures" here?
Slika is indeed the noun for "picture", but here it is the "he/she/it" form of the verb slikati. This verb can mean either "to paint" or "to take pictures". Because he is using a fotoaparat (camera), we know it means taking pictures from the context!
How does the word fotoaparat change into the Instrumental case here?
Fotoaparat is a masculine noun ending in a consonant. To make it Instrumental, you simply add -om to the end, giving us fotoaparatom. If the noun ended in certain "soft" consonants (like j, č, or š), it would take -em instead.
What if my brother was taking pictures "with a friend"? Would we still drop the word for "with"?
No, if he is doing the action alongside a person, you must use the preposition s (or sa). "With a friend" would be s prijateljem. The rule of dropping the preposition only applies to objects used as tools!