Questions & Answers about Samo ti znaš istinu.
Why is the pronoun ti included if Croatian usually drops words like "I" and "you"?
You are right that Croatian usually drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending (like the -š in znaš) already shows who is acting. But here, ti is included for emphasis. It stresses that only you know the truth, and nobody else does.
Why does the word for truth end in -u (istinu) instead of -a (istina)?
Istina is the base form (nominative case) used for the subject of a sentence. Here, the truth is the direct object of the verb znaš (it is the thing that you know). So, it needs to be in the accusative case. Feminine nouns that end in -a change their ending to -u in the accusative.
Could I leave out ti and just say Samo znaš istinu?
No, that would change the meaning. Without ti, Samo znaš istinu would mean something like "You just know the truth" (for example, you know it, but you aren't doing anything about it). To say "Only you," you must pair samo with the pronoun ti.
Why use znaš here instead of poznaješ? Both can translate to "you know" in English.
Znaš (from the verb znati) is used for knowing facts, information, or how to do something. Poznaješ (from poznavati) is used when you are familiar with a person, a place, or a complex topic. Since "the truth" is a piece of factual information, znaš is the correct choice here.
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