Breakdown of Novi šef je puno pristojniji od bivšeg šefa.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
nov
new
puno
a lot
šef
boss
bivši
former
od
than (in comparison)
pristojan
polite (decent, well-mannered)
Questions & Answers about Novi šef je puno pristojniji od bivšeg šefa.
Why do we use od followed by bivšeg šefa to say "than the former boss"?
In Croatian comparisons, "than" is often expressed with the preposition od followed by the genitive case. Since od means "from", the structure literally translates as "more polite from the former boss". This changes bivši šef into the genitive form bivšeg šefa.
Could I use nego instead of od in this sentence?
Yes! You can also say Novi šef je puno pristojniji nego bivši šef. When you use nego (than) instead of od, the noun that follows stays in the same case as the first noun. Since novi šef is in the nominative case, bivši šef stays nominative too.
How does the word pristojan (polite) become pristojniji?
To make the comparative form (more polite) for a masculine noun, Croatian often adds -iji to the base adjective. The base word pristojan loses its fleeting "a" and adds -iji, becoming pristojniji to match the masculine subject šef.
Why does the genitive form of bivši end in -eg (bivšeg) instead of the usual -og?
Masculine adjectives in the genitive case usually end in -og. However, if the base adjective's stem ends in a "soft" consonant sound (like š, ž, č, ć, j, lj, nj), it takes the -eg ending instead. Since bivši has a soft š, it becomes bivšeg.
Learn Novi šef je puno pristojniji od bivšeg šefa and more in Croatian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free