Word
Naš pas trči ka kući.
Meaning
Our dog is running towards the house.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Naš pas trči ka kući.
Why do we use ka here instead of just k?
Both k and ka mean "towards" and take the dative case. You add the extra a to make ka when the next word starts with a similar sound, specifically k, g, or h. Because kući starts with k, saying k kući would be too hard to pronounce!
Why does the word kuća change to kući in this sentence?
The preposition ka always requires the following noun to be in the dative case. The dictionary form for "house" is kuća, which is a feminine noun. For feminine nouns ending in -a, the dative case is formed by changing the -a to -i, giving us kući.
Could I say prema kući instead?
Yes! Both k/ka and prema mean "towards" and both use the dative case, so you could absolutely say Naš pas trči prema kući. In modern Croatian, prema is actually used more often than k/ka for physical directions.
Why is the word for "our" written as naš and not naša?
Possessive words like "our" must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word pas (dog) is masculine, so we use the masculine form naš. If the pet were a cat (mačka, which is feminine), it would be naša mačka.