Breakdown of Ovaj čovjek s bradom je moj djed.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
čovjek
man
djed
grandfather
moj
my
s
with
brada
beard
Questions & Answers about Ovaj čovjek s bradom je moj djed.
Why is it s bradom instead of just s brada?
The preposition s (meaning "with") requires the following noun to be in the instrumental case. The dictionary form of the word for "beard" is brada. Because it is a feminine noun ending in -a, its ending changes to -om in the instrumental case, giving us s bradom.
Why do we use s here instead of sa?
We use the short form s most of the time. The longer form sa is only used when the next word starts with a sound that makes it hard to pronounce alongside an "s" sound, like s, z, š, or ž (for example, sa sestrom). Since bradom starts with a b, it is easy to say s bradom.
Why is it ovaj čovjek and not ovo čovjek?
Ovaj (this) must match the gender of the noun it describes. Because čovjek (man) is masculine, we use the masculine form ovaj. If you were pointing out a woman, you would use the feminine form, ova žena.
Does the word moj change depending on the gender of the person speaking?
No, possessive words like moj (my) always match the noun they describe, not the person who is speaking. Since djed (grandfather) is masculine, you use the masculine form moj, even if you are a woman.
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