Breakdown of Španjolski i talijanski su slični jezici.
jezik
language
talijanski
Italian (language, adjective)
španjolski
Spanish (language, adjective)
Questions & Answers about Španjolski i talijanski su slični jezici.
Why isn't talijanski capitalized like it is in English?
In Croatian, adjectives ending in -ski, -ški, or -čki are always written with a lowercase letter, even when they refer to languages or nationalities. Španjolski is only capitalized here because it is the first word of the sentence.
Why did the word for language (jezik) change to jezici?
This is due to a very common Croatian sound change. When forming the plural of masculine nouns ending in -k, -g, or -h, those letters change to -c, -z, or -s before the plural ending -i. Therefore, jezik becomes jezici.
Why is the verb su (are) the fourth word in the sentence? I thought it had to be in the second position.
You are right that su is an enclitic (a weak word without its own accent) that needs to be in the second position. However, Croatian treats a closely linked phrase like Španjolski i talijanski as a single grammatical block. Because of this, su takes the second position right after the entire phrase.
Why do the words for Spanish and Italian look like adjectives?
Because they are! When talking about languages in Croatian, you are literally saying the Spanish (španjolski) or Italian (talijanski) language. It is extremely common to drop the noun jezik (language) and just use the adjective as a noun, which is exactly what happens at the beginning of this sentence.
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