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To meni smeta, a ne tebi.

To meni smeta, a ne tebi.
That bothers me, and not you.
From Lesson 147:Emphatic dative and locative pronouns (meni, tebi...)·Croatian

Questions & Answers about To meni smeta, a ne tebi.

Why does this sentence use meni and tebi instead of the short forms mi and ti?
We use the full, emphatic forms meni and tebi because we are making a strong contrast. The sentence highlights that it bothers ME, specifically, and not YOU. Short forms cannot be used when we want to put special emphasis on a person.
Why are meni and tebi in the Dative case?
In Croatian, the verb smetati (to bother) always takes the Dative case for the person who is being bothered. You can think of it as saying that something is a bother TO someone.
Why is the word a used here instead of i for 'and'?
While both i and a can mean 'and,' a is used specifically to show a difference or contrast between two things. Here, you are contrasting the fact that the situation bothers you, but it does not bother the other person.
Could I use the short form ti at the end of the sentence, like 'a ne ti'?
No, you cannot use the short Dative form ti here for two reasons. First, short pronouns are never allowed to come directly after the word ne. Second, you always need the full, emphatic form when comparing or contrasting people, like we are doing here with meni and tebi.

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