Breakdown of Nikako neću popustiti tom pritisku.
taj
that (masculine)
nikako
absolutely not
neću
I will not (nećeš, neće...)
popustiti
to give in
Questions & Answers about Nikako neću popustiti tom pritisku.
How is the negative future tense formed in this sentence?
It uses the negative word neću (I will not) followed by the infinitive verb popustiti (to give in). Unlike the positive future tense where the helper verb often attaches to the end of the infinitive, negative future helper verbs always stay as separate words.
Nikako means 'in no way' or 'absolutely not'. Why do we also need the negative verb neću?
Croatian requires double negation. Whenever you use a negative adverb like nikako, the verb in the sentence must also be negative. A literal translation would be 'I in no way will not give in', which is the only grammatically correct way to phrase it in Croatian.
Why are the words for 'that pressure' written as tom pritisku?
The verb popustiti (to give in) requires the dative case for the thing you are yielding to. The base words are taj pritisak (that pressure), but they change to their dative forms tom pritisku to show what you are giving in to.
What happened to the letter 'a' from the base word pritisak when it changed to pritisku?
This is an example of the fleeting 'a'. In many Croatian masculine nouns ending in '-ak', the 'a' drops out when you add a case ending. So, adding the dative ending -u to pritisak makes it pritisku.