Breakdown of Imate li ikakav dokaz protiv njega?
on
he
li
question particle
imati
to have
protiv
against
dokaz
evidence
ikakav
any kind of
Questions & Answers about Imate li ikakav dokaz protiv njega?
Why use ikakav (any kind of) here instead of neki (some)?
Words starting with the i- prefix add the feeling of "at all" or "whatsoever" and are heavily used in questions and conditional clauses. Imate li neki dokaz? simply asks "Do you have some evidence?", but using ikakav emphasizes asking if they have any kind of evidence at all.
Why is the direct object ikakav dokaz in what looks like the dictionary form (nominative)?
It is actually in the accusative case, which is required for the direct object of imate (you have). Because dokaz is a masculine inanimate noun (it is a thing, not a person or animal), its accusative form is exactly the same as its nominative form. The pronoun ikakav copies this ending.
Why do we use the long pronoun njega instead of the short form ga for "him"?
The preposition protiv (against) forces the following noun or pronoun into the genitive case. A strict rule in Croatian is that you must always use the long, stressed form of a pronoun when it comes immediately after a preposition. Therefore, it has to be protiv njega, never protiv ga.
In English, "evidence" is an uncountable noun. Does dokaz work the same way in Croatian?
No, dokaz is a regular, countable noun in Croatian, meaning "a proof" or "a piece of evidence". If you were asking about multiple pieces of evidence, you would use the plural accusative form: Imate li ikakve dokaze?
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