Breakdown of On bira onu crvenu kravatu.
on
he
crven
red
onaj
that (over there) / the one (who)
kravata
tie
birati
to choose
Questions & Answers about On bira onu crvenu kravatu.
Why is the word onu used here instead of tu?
Both words translate to "that" in English, but Croatian has three levels of distance. You use ovaj for things close to the speaker (this), taj for things close to the listener (that), and onaj for things far from both (that over there). Since the sentence refers to "that red tie over there", we need the feminine form of onaj, which changes to onu in this sentence.
Why do onu, crvenu, and kravatu all end in -u?
They are in the accusative case because they are the direct object of the verb bira (he is choosing what?). The base word for tie is kravata, a feminine noun. In the accusative case, feminine words ending in -a change their ending to -u. The demonstrative pronoun (ona) and adjective (crvena) must match the noun they describe, so they also change to end in -u.
Could I use the perfective verb izabere instead of bira?
Bira is an imperfective verb, which is used here to describe the ongoing, continuous action of "is choosing". If you used the perfective verb izabere, it would focus on the completed result of the action, meaning "he makes a choice" or "he will choose".
Is it required to include the pronoun on at the start of the sentence?
No, it is not strictly required. In Croatian, the verb form bira already implies a third-person singular subject. However, keeping on (he) in the sentence adds a bit of emphasis or clarity, pointing out exactly who is doing the choosing.
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