Breakdown of On tvrdi da nije kriv.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
on
he
ne
no, not
da
that (conjunction)
tvrditi
to claim
kriv
guilty
Questions & Answers about On tvrdi da nije kriv.
Why do we use da to connect the two parts of this sentence?
The word da translates to "that". It is used to introduce a subordinate clause, which acts as the object of the main verb. Here, the main verb is tvrdi (claims), and the da clause tells us exactly what he claims (da nije kriv). In Croatian, verbs about saying, thinking, or knowing very often connect to their object using da plus the present tense.
The English translation says "He claims that HE is not guilty". Why is there no second on in the Croatian sentence?
Croatian frequently drops subject pronouns like on (he) because the verb forms already tell you who is doing the action. The verb nije is the "he/she/it" form. Since the main subject of the sentence is already established as on, adding a second on after da is unnecessary and would sound unnatural.
Why is the negative word here nije instead of ne je?
The verb biti (to be) has a set of special negative forms that you have to memorize. While most Croatian verbs are made negative just by putting ne in front of them, the present tense of biti combines with the negative to make a single word. The "he/she/it is not" form is always nije.
How would this sentence change if the subject was a woman ("She claims that she is not guilty")?
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