Breakdown of Tko je kriv za ovaj problem?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
tko
who
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
problem
problem
za
for / at (a table) (+ instrumental)
kriv
guilty
Questions & Answers about Tko je kriv za ovaj problem?
Can I use the emphatic pronoun mene to answer "Me!" like we do in English?
In English we often say "Me!" to claim responsibility, but in Croatian, the question asks Tko (who) in the Nominative case. Therefore, your answer must also be in the Nominative. You would say Ja! (I), not the Accusative emphatic form mene.
Why is the word for "to blame" written as kriv instead of kriva or krivo?
Kriv is an adjective meaning "guilty" or "to blame". When asking a general question with tko (who) where you don't know the person's gender, Croatian always defaults to the masculine singular form. If you already knew a specific female was to blame, you might ask Tko je kriva?, but kriv is the standard default.
What case does the preposition za take in this sentence?
It takes the Accusative case. Here, za means "for". Because problem is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing), its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form. The same rule applies to the pointing word ovaj.
Does kriv always translate to "to blame"?
Not always! Kriv literally translates to "guilty", "wrong", or even "crooked". Here, being "guilty for" a problem means you are to blame. You will also often hear it used to mean "wrong", for example when someone dials a krivi broj (wrong number).
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