Questions & Answers about Nemam sestara, imam brata.
Why is it sestara instead of sestre?
The verb nemam (I do not have) is often followed by the genitive case to express not having any of something. Sestara is the genitive plural of sestra (sister). You use this case to mean that you do not have any sisters.
Where does the extra a in the middle of sestara come from?
This is a special rule for the genitive plural. To avoid hard-to-pronounce consonant groups at the end of a word, Croatian inserts an extra a. This is called a fleeting a because it only pops up in specific grammatical forms like this one.
Why does brata end in -a when the dictionary word for brother is brat?
The verb imam (I have) needs its object to be in the accusative case. For masculine nouns that are living beings, the accusative case adds an -a to the end. So, brat becomes brata.
Could I use the accusative case with nemam too, like nemam sestru?
Yes! You can say nemam sestru (accusative singular), which simply means I do not have a sister. Using the genitive plural sestara just changes the focus to I do not have any sisters. Both are completely natural.