Breakdown of Naš pas je veći nego ovi vukovi.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
velik
big
pas
dog
naš
our
nego
than
vuk
wolf
Questions & Answers about Naš pas je veći nego ovi vukovi.
Why is the plural of vuk written as vukovi instead of just vuki?
Because vuk (wolf) is a one-syllable masculine noun. In Croatian, most short masculine words need an extra piece, -ov- or -ev-, before the plural ending -i. Since vuk does not end in a 'soft' consonant, we add -ov-, making the plural vukovi.
What word does veći come from?
It is the comparative form of velik (big). The word velik is an irregular adjective, so its comparative changes completely to veći (bigger). We use this specific form because it describes pas, which is a masculine noun.
How does nego work in this sentence?
nego means 'than' when comparing two things. The handy thing about nego is that the word after it stays in the same grammatical case as the word before it. Since Naš pas is the subject in the nominative case, ovi vukovi is also in the nominative case.
Why do we use ovi for 'these' instead of ove?
ovi is the masculine plural form for pointing at things. Even though the noun became longer when it changed to vukovi, its core gender is still masculine. The pointing word must match that masculine plural, giving us ovi vukovi.
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