Breakdown of Teško je utjecati na masu ljudi.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ljudi
people
težak
difficult / severe, serious
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
masa
mass, crowd
utjecati
to influence
Questions & Answers about Teško je utjecati na masu ljudi.
Why do we use ljudi here instead of a plural form of čovjek?
The word čovjek (person, human) has a highly irregular plural. Instead of just changing the ending, the entire word changes to ljudi (people). Whenever you need to talk about more than one person, you must use ljudi.
What case is ljudi in this sentence, and why didn't its ending change?
It is in the genitive case, translating to "of people" because it follows masu (a crowd or mass). The noun ljudi is irregular; its genitive plural form is exactly the same as its nominative (subject) form, which is why it stays as ljudi here.
Why does the verb utjecati (to influence) have the preposition na right after it?
In Croatian, you cannot directly influence something as a normal direct object. The verb utjecati always pairs with the preposition na followed by the accusative case. You are literally saying that you have an influence "on" a crowd (na masu).
Why does the sentence start with the adverb teško instead of the adjective težak?
When making a general "It is..." statement without a specific noun as the subject, Croatian uses an impersonal construction. This consists of an adverb ending in -o (like teško) plus the verb je (is). You don't need a word for "it" at all.
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