Breakdown of Ponosimo se tim talentom jer je poseban.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
jer
because
taj
that (masculine)
ponositi se
to be proud of
Questions & Answers about Ponosimo se tim talentom jer je poseban.
Why do we use tim talentom instead of a preposition to translate 'of that talent'?
In Croatian, the verb ponositi se (to be proud of) directly requires its object to be in the instrumental case. Because of this rule, we do not translate the English word 'of', but simply put taj talent into the instrumental case, making it tim talentom.
Doesn't the instrumental case usually need the preposition s or sa?
It often does when you are talking about company (going with a friend) or sometimes an instrument. However, when a verb strictly governs the instrumental case as its object, such as ponositi se or baviti se, you never use a preposition.
Where does the word tim come from?
Tim is the masculine instrumental singular form of the demonstrative pronoun taj (that). It has to perfectly match the case, gender, and number of the masculine noun it modifies, which here is talentom.
Why is the adjective poseban used here instead of posebni?
Both mean 'special', but poseban is the indefinite form, while posebni is the definite form. In Croatian, when an adjective comes after the verb to be to describe the subject (like 'it is special'), you generally use the short, indefinite form.