Questions & Answers about Sviđa ti se knjiga?
Why doesn't this sentence start with the word for you?
In Croatian, the concept of liking works backwards compared to English. Instead of saying that you like the book, Croatians phrase it as: the book is pleasing to you. The word knjiga (book) is actually the subject doing the action, and ti means to you.
What is the purpose of the word se here?
The verb for to be pleasing is sviđati se. It is a reflexive verb, which means it always needs the little word se to go along with it.
Why are ti and se placed right after Sviđa?
Both ti and se are enclitics, which are short, unstressed words that must take the second position in a sentence. They attach right after the first word, Sviđa. When a sentence has multiple enclitics, pronoun enclitics like ti always come before the reflexive se.
How would I answer this question to say yes, I like the book?
Is it normal to ask a question without using words like da li or je li?
Yes! In everyday spoken Croatian, you can turn a simple statement into a question just by raising your tone of voice at the end. You do not always need formal question words.
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