Learn Croatian: Ugledna gospoda sjede u restoranu i piju vino. - The distinguished gentlemen are sitting in the restaurant and drinking wine.

The word gospoda is a collective noun meaning "gentlemen". In Croatian, collective nouns like gospoda, braća (brothers), and djeca (children) grammatically act like feminine singular nouns. Because of this rule, any adjective modifying them, like ugledna, must take the feminine singular ending -a.

If gospoda acts like a singular noun, why are the verbs sjede and piju in the plural?

This is the trickiest part of collective nouns! Even though adjectives and pronouns modifying them take the feminine singular form (like ugledna gospoda), verbs in the present tense match the actual logical meaning: a group of people. Therefore, the verbs take the third-person plural form (sjede, piju).

How is gospoda related to the word gospodin?

Gospodin is the singular word for "gentleman" or "Mr.". When you want to talk about multiple gentlemen, you do not use a standard plural form of that word. Instead, you drop the singular and use the collective noun gospoda.

Why is it u restoranu instead of u restoran?