To je četka kojom svakodnevno čistim svoj automobil.
That is the brush I clean my car with every day.
Breakdown of To je četka kojom svakodnevno čistim svoj automobil.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
to
that
automobil
car
čistiti
to clean
koji
which
svoj
one's own
svakodnevno
daily
četka
brush
Questions & Answers about To je četka kojom svakodnevno čistim svoj automobil.
Why do we use the form kojom here?
Kojom is the feminine singular Instrumental form of the relative pronoun koji. It is feminine to match the noun it replaces, četka (brush). The Instrumental case is used because the brush is the instrument or tool being used for the action of cleaning.
The English translation says I clean the car 'with' a brush, so why is there no s or sa before kojom?
In Croatian, when you are using something as a tool or instrument to perform an action (like a brush for cleaning, or a pen for writing), you use the Instrumental case completely on its own. You only use the prepositions s or sa when expressing company, like doing something together with a person.
Why does the sentence use svoj instead of moj for 'my'?
Svoj is the reflexive possessive pronoun, which you must use when the subject of the verb owns the object being acted upon. Since the subject 'I' (hidden in the verb čistim) is cleaning their own car, svoj is required. Using moj here sounds unnatural to native speakers.
I am cleaning the car, so it is the direct object. Why don't svoj and automobil have typical accusative endings?
They actually are in the accusative case! Automobil is a masculine noun. In Croatian, masculine nouns only change their endings in the accusative case if they represent living things (animate). Because a car is an inanimate object, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form, so svoj automobil does not change.
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