Questions & Answers about Čitam rusku knjigu.
Why does the sentence use rusku knjigu instead of the dictionary forms ruska knjiga?
In this sentence, the book is the direct object. It is the thing receiving the action of being read. In Croatian, direct objects take the accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -a like knjiga, the ending changes to -u to become knjigu. Adjectives describing the noun must match it, so ruska also changes to rusku.
Where is the word for I (ja) in this sentence?
It is left out because it is not needed. The verb čitam ends in -m, which specifically means I am doing the action. In Croatian, it is very common to drop subject pronouns unless you want to add special emphasis.
How do we know this means I am reading and not just I read?
Croatian does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. The present tense verb čitam can translate to either I read or I am reading. You usually figure out the exact meaning from the context of the conversation.
Why is rusku written with a lowercase r when Russian is capitalized in English?
In Croatian grammar, adjectives made from names of countries or places that end in -ski, -ški, or -čki are always written with a lowercase letter. So, ruski (Russian), hrvatski (Croatian), and engleski (English) are not capitalized unless they are the very first word in a sentence.
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