Word
Brat mi se sramio svojih suza.
Meaning
My brother was ashamed of his tears.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Brat mi se sramio svojih suza.
Why are svojih suza in the genitive case here?
The verb sramiti se (to be ashamed) requires the object you are ashamed of to be in the genitive case. Since he is ashamed of his tears (svoje suze), the phrase becomes svojih suza. Other verbs like bojati se (to be afraid) and sjećati se (to remember) work exactly the same way.
Why does it use svojih instead of njegovih for "his"?
In Croatian, when the subject of the sentence owns the object being talked about, you must use the reflexive possessive pronoun svoj (meaning "one's own"). Since the brother (the subject) is crying his own tears, you use svojih. If you used njegovih, it would mean he was ashamed of another man's tears.
Why is there a mi in this sentence instead of moj brat?
Instead of using the possessive adjective moj (my), Croatian often uses the dative pronoun clitic mi (to me) to show possession or a close relationship. This is extremely common with family members or body parts. Literally, the sentence is structured as "The brother to me was ashamed."
Why do the clitics mi and se appear in that specific order?