Breakdown of Hladno je, ne gasi grijanje!
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ne
no, not
hladan
cold
grijanje
heating
gasiti
to turn off (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Hladno je, ne gasi grijanje!
Why do we use gasi here instead of the perfective verb ugasi?
This is the core rule of your current lesson! In Croatian, when telling someone NOT to do something, you almost always use the imperfective aspect. So, we use the imperfective gasi for the negative command ne gasi (do not turn off). If you wanted to give a positive command and say 'turn off the heating!', you would switch to the perfective: ugasi grijanje!
How do we form the imperative gasi from the infinitive gasiti?
To make a command for a single person you are informal with, start with the 'they' form in the present tense, which is gase (they turn off). Drop the final vowel and add -i. This gives you the imperative form gasi.
Why does the sentence just say Hladno je without a word for 'it'?
When talking about general conditions, weather, or temperature (like 'it is cold'), Croatian drops the pronoun 'it'. You simply use the neuter form of the adjective, which is hladno, followed by the verb je (is).
Is grijanje a verb or a noun?
It is a noun, but it is built from the verb grijati (to heat). Nouns that end in -nje describe the action of the verb, much like '-ing' words used as nouns in English (like 'heating'). These verbal nouns are always neuter gender.
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