Breakdown of Činjenica je da on laže.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
on
he
da
that (conjunction)
činjenica
fact
lagati
to lie (to tell untruths)
Questions & Answers about Činjenica je da on laže.
The English translation says 'It is a fact', but there is no word for 'It' in the Croatian sentence. Why?
Croatian doesn't use empty subject words like 'it' when stating a general fact or condition. You just start directly with the noun Činjenica (The fact) and the verb je (is).
Can I leave out the word da, like we sometimes drop 'that' in English?
No, you cannot drop da in Croatian. When introducing a subordinate clause, the conjunction da is strictly required to link the main idea to the action, which here is the present tense verb laže.
The infinitive for 'to lie' is lagati. Why does it become laže here?
Many Croatian verbs have a slight spelling change in the present tense. For lagati, the 'g' changes to 'ž', making the present tense root laž-. Then we add the normal 'he/she/it' ending -e to get laže.
Does da on laže mean 'that he lies' or 'that he is lying'?
It can mean both! Croatian does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. Depending on the context, laže translates to either 'he lies' as a habit, or 'he is lying' right at this moment.
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