Breakdown of Završavate li istragu tog ubojstva?
li
question particle
završavati
to finish (imperfective)
taj
that (masculine)
istraga
investigation
ubojstvo
murder
Questions & Answers about Završavate li istragu tog ubojstva?
How does the question structure Završavate li work here?
In this lesson, we are making yes/no questions by putting the verb first, followed immediately by the question word li. This is a very common and slightly more formal alternative to asking Da li završavate.
Why does the word for investigation change to istragu?
The base word is istraga. Because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb (what are you finishing?), it needs to be in the accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -a, the accusative ending changes to -u.
Why are the words tog ubojstva in the genitive case?
In English, we say the investigation 'of' that murder. Croatian expresses this 'of' relationship by putting the noun phrase into the genitive case. The neuter noun ubojstvo (murder) gets the -a ending, and the pointing word to (that) changes to tog.
Why use završavate instead of završite?
Završavate is an imperfective verb, which focuses on the ongoing process of finishing. If you used the perfective verb završite, the question would focus on the completed action, sounding more like 'Will you finish the investigation?'.
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