Breakdown of Izlet počinje četrnaestog, a završava petnaestog svibnja.
a
and / but
izlet
trip (m)
završavati
to finish (imperfective)
svibanj
May
počinjati
to begin, to start (imperfective)
četrnaesti
fourteenth
petnaesti
fifteenth
Questions & Answers about Izlet počinje četrnaestog, a završava petnaestog svibnja.
Why are the numbers četrnaestog and petnaestog in the genitive case?
When expressing 'on a specific date' in Croatian, you must use the genitive case for the ordinal number. That is why the nominative četrnaesti (fourteenth) changes to the genitive četrnaestog.
Why is the month svibnja also in the genitive case?
When giving a full date, both the day and the month take the genitive case. The dictionary form is svibanj (May), and changing it to svibnja translates literally to 'of May'.
Why doesn't the sentence state the month right after četrnaestog?
Just like in English, if both dates happen in the same month, you only need to say the month once at the end. The word svibnja applies to both četrnaestog and petnaestog.
Why do we use a for 'and' here instead of i?
The conjunction a is used when there is a mild contrast or a shift in focus. Here, it contrasts the starting action with the ending action of the trip. If you used i, it would sound like you are just piling unrelated facts on a list.
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