Breakdown of Moja putovnica nije u džepu, ne mogu je nigdje pronaći.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ona
she
ne
no, not
u
in, into
moći
can
moj
my
putovnica
passport (f)
nigdje
nowhere
džep
pocket
pronaći
to find
Questions & Answers about Moja putovnica nije u džepu, ne mogu je nigdje pronaći.
Why does the sentence use both ne mogu (I cannot) and nigdje (nowhere)? Isn't that a double negative?
Yes, and that is a strict rule in Croatian! Unlike English, when you use a negative adverb like nigdje (nowhere/anywhere), the verb must also be negative. So you literally have to say 'I cannot find it nowhere' (ne mogu... nigdje pronaći).
Wait, the word je usually means 'is'. Why does it mean 'it' here?
The word je is indeed the verb 'is', but it is also the accusative (direct object) form of the pronoun ona (she). Because putovnica (passport) is a feminine noun, we use the feminine pronoun to say 'it'. You can tell it is a pronoun in this sentence because the action is already handled by the verb phrase ne mogu (I cannot).
Why is the word for pocket džepu instead of just džep?
Because the passport is resting in a location. The preposition u (in) requires the locative case when describing where something currently is. For most masculine nouns like džep, you add the ending -u to the end, making it u džepu.
Could I use naći instead of pronaći to say 'find'?
Yes, absolutely. Both naći and pronaći mean 'to find' and are used interchangeably in most everyday situations. pronaći can sometimes just imply a little extra effort was spent searching for the item.
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