Breakdown of Direktor krivi radnika jer je izgubio dokument.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
jer
because
direktor
director, manager (of a company)
radnik
worker
izgubiti
to lose
dokument
document (m)
kriviti
to blame
Questions & Answers about Direktor krivi radnika jer je izgubio dokument.
Why does radnika get an -a at the end, but dokument doesn't change, if they are both direct objects?
Both words are masculine nouns in the Accusative case because they receive the action of a verb. However, masculine nouns follow an animate/inanimate rule. Since a radnik (worker) is a living person, it takes the -a ending. Since a dokument is a non-living thing, its Accusative form looks exactly like its dictionary form.
Is the verb krivi related to the adjective kriv (guilty)?
Yes! The adjective kriv means guilty or wrong. The verb kriviti means to blame or to hold someone guilty. In this sentence, krivi is the present tense form for he/she/it.
The English translation says because he lost, but the Croatian just says jer je izgubio. How do we know who lost the document?
Grammatically, it is actually ambiguous. Because Croatian naturally drops subject pronouns like on (he), we have to rely on context to know that the worker is the one who lost it. If it were truly confusing in real life, a speaker would have to rephrase the sentence to make it clear.
How would I change this sentence to say The director blames HIM, placing heavy emphasis on the worker?
You would replace radnika with the full, emphatic Accusative pronoun njega (him), making the first part of the sentence Direktor krivi njega. You use this full form instead of the short pronoun ga specifically to add strong emphasis to who is being blamed.
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