Breakdown of Sunce će početi sjati ujutro.
htjeti
to want (intent, will)
početi
to begin
ujutro
in the morning
sunce
sun
sjati
to shine
Questions & Answers about Sunce će početi sjati ujutro.
Why do we use the imperfective verb sjati here?
početi (to start) is a phase verb, meaning it describes the beginning of an action. In Croatian, phase verbs must always be followed by an imperfective verb because they kick off an ongoing process. That is why we use the imperfective sjati (to shine) instead of a perfective equivalent.
Is it normal to have two infinitives in a row like početi sjati?
Yes! The sentence uses the future tense, which pairs the helper word će with the first infinitive, početi. Because početi then needs to state what action is starting, it requires a second infinitive, sjati. Stacking infinitives like this is very common in Croatian.
Why is the future tense helper će placed exactly there?
će is an enclitic, which is a small word that naturally wants to sit in the second position of a sentence. Because the noun Sunce takes up the first spot, će drops in right behind it to form the future tense.
Why is ujutro written as one word?
When meaning 'in the morning' as a general time reference (an adverb), it is written as the single word ujutro. You would only use two words (u jutro) if you were pointing to a specific morning, like 'into the morning'.
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