Breakdown of Govorite li španjolski?
li
question particle
govoriti
to speak
španjolski
Spanish (language, adjective)
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Questions & Answers about Govorite li španjolski?
Why is li placed after the verb?
In Croatian, li is a small word used to ask yes/no questions. To use it, you put the verb first, followed directly by li. This is the standard way to ask a question, and it sounds a bit more natural than using the phrase da li at the start of the sentence.
Where is the word for "you" in this sentence?
It is built right into the verb govorite. Because the ending -te already shows that the subject is "you" (plural or formal), Croatian simply drops the pronoun vi. You only need to add it if you want to emphasize who you are asking.
Does govorite mean you are talking to one person or multiple people?
It could be either! The verb form govorite is used for the plural "you" when talking to a group of people. However, it is also the polite, formal "you" used when speaking to a single adult you don't know well, like a cashier or a stranger.
Why isn't španjolski capitalized like it is in English?
In Croatian, the names of languages are never capitalized unless they are the first word in a sentence. Language names are treated as adjectives ending in -ski, and adjectives are always written with lowercase letters.