Breakdown of Ako nemate hrabrosti, nećete uspjeti.
nemati
to not have
uspjeti
to succeed
ako
if
neću
I will not (nećeš, neće...)
Questions & Answers about Ako nemate hrabrosti, nećete uspjeti.
Why does the word for bravery end in -i (hrabrosti)?
The base word is hrabrost, which is a feminine noun ending in a consonant. These nouns belong to the i-declension group. In this sentence, it is in the genitive case, and the genitive singular ending for this group is -i.
Doesn't the verb to have (imati / nemati) usually take the accusative case? Why is hrabrosti in the genitive?
It usually does, but there are two reasons for the genitive here. First, with uncountable or abstract nouns like hrabrost, Croatian often uses the partitive genitive to mean 'some' or 'any' bravery. Second, when a verb is negative (nemate instead of imate), Croatian often swaps the accusative object for a genitive one.
How is the negative future tense built in nećete uspjeti?
It is made by combining the negative present tense of the helper verb for 'to want' (htjeti) with the infinitive of your main verb. Here, nećete means 'you will not' and uspjeti means 'to succeed'. Unlike the positive future tense which often merges the helper onto the infinitive, the negative future always keeps them as two separate words.
Is uspjeti perfective or imperfective?