Breakdown of Sviđa mi se pjevač koji tamo stoji.
tamo
there
ja
I
sviđati se
to like (Sviđa mi se)
koji
which
pjevač
singer
stajati
to stand
Questions & Answers about Sviđa mi se pjevač koji tamo stoji.
Why do we use koji for "who" instead of tko?
Tko is used for asking questions, like "Who is standing there?". But when you want to connect parts of a sentence and refer back to a noun you just mentioned, you must use a relative pronoun like koji (which/who).
How do we know to use the exact form koji?
The word koji has to match the noun it describes in gender, number, and case. It points back to pjevač (singer), which is a masculine singular noun. It is in the nominative case here because it is the subject of the second half of the sentence: the singer is the one who stoji (is standing).
Why is the singer (pjevač) in the nominative case? Doesn't the sentence mean "I like the singer"?
In Croatian, the verb sviđati se (to like) works backwards from English. It literally means "is pleasing to". So, the sentence is actually saying "The singer is pleasing to me." Because the singer is the one doing the pleasing, pjevač is the subject of the first part of the sentence and stays in the nominative case.
Why are the words in this order, starting with Sviđa mi se?
Croatian word order is flexible, but it is very common to place the subject right before the koji clause. By saying Sviđa mi se pjevač, you neatly introduce the singer first, and then seamlessly describe him with koji tamo stoji without splitting up the main idea.
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