Breakdown of Dječak s ožiljkom je hrabar.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
dječak
boy
hrabar
brave
s
with
ožiljak
scar
Questions & Answers about Dječak s ožiljkom je hrabar.
How does the word for 'scar' change to ožiljkom here?
The dictionary form is ožiljak (a masculine noun). When we use the preposition s (with), the noun must be in the instrumental case, which usually adds -om for masculine nouns. However, ožiljak has a 'fleeting a' (an a that disappears when endings are added). So, ožiljak drops its a to become ožiljk-, and adding -om gives us ožiljkom.
Why do we use s instead of sa in this sentence?
The basic word for 'with' is s. We only expand it to sa when the next word starts with a sound that is hard to pronounce right after s, like s, z, š, or ž (for example, sa šećerom meaning 'with sugar'). Since ožiljkom starts with the vowel o, we just stick with the shorter s.
Is the instrumental case always used for physical features like a scar?
Yes, using s or sa plus the instrumental case is the standard way to describe someone's physical attributes, clothing, or accessories in Croatian. Just like you would say čovjek s bradom (a man with a beard), here we say dječak s ožiljkom (a boy with a scar).
Why is the word for brave hrabar and not hrabri?
When an adjective comes after the verb to describe the subject (as in 'The boy is brave'), Croatian generally uses the short or 'indefinite' form of the adjective for masculine nouns. So we use hrabar. If it came right before the noun to say 'the brave boy', we would use the specific form hrabri dječak.
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