Breakdown of Mehaničar ima deset novih kočnica.
nov
new
imati
to have
deset
ten
mehaničar
mechanic
kočnica
brake
Questions & Answers about Mehaničar ima deset novih kočnica.
Why is it novih kočnica instead of nove kočnice?
Because the number is deset (ten). In Croatian, quantities of 5 and above require the following adjective and noun to be in the genitive plural.
How would the sentence change if the mechanic only had three new brakes?
It would be Mehaničar ima tri nove kočnice. For feminine nouns like kočnica, numbers 2, 3, and 4 require the adjective and noun to take the nominative plural form.
Wait, doesn't kočnica look exactly like the singular form?
Yes, it is spelled exactly the same! For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the genitive plural looks identical to the nominative singular in writing. You can tell it is plural here because the adjective novih clearly has the genitive plural ending -ih.
Is the -ih ending on novih only used for feminine nouns?
No, the genitive plural adjective ending -ih is the same for all three genders. Whether you are counting ten brakes (feminine), ten cars (masculine), or ten wheels (neuter), the adjective will always end in -ih after numbers 5 and above.
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