Breakdown of Mačka se zavukla među jastuke na sofi.
mačka
cat
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
sofa
sofa
jastuk
pillow
među
among
zavući se
to crawl under, to hide under
Questions & Answers about Mačka se zavukla među jastuke na sofi.
Why is "jastuke" in the accusative case here rather than the instrumental?
Because the cat is moving to a destination. The preposition među takes the accusative case when it shows motion towards a place (the cat crawled into the space among the pillows). If the cat was already just resting among the pillows, we would use the instrumental case (među jastucima).
If we use the accusative for motion with "među", why is "na sofi" in the locative case?
The phrase na sofi describes the fixed location of the pillows, not the destination of the cat's movement. The cat's action of moving is directed at getting among the pillows (među jastuke), but the sofa itself is just where those pillows already sit.
What does "zavukla se" mean here, and what is the dictionary form?
The dictionary form (infinitive) is zavući se, which means to crawl into, sneak into, or squeeze into a small space. It is a reflexive verb, which is why it uses the word se. You will often hear it used for animals hiding or people getting snug under the covers!
I learned that the plural of "jastuk" (pillow) is "jastuci". Why is it "jastuke" here?
Masculine nouns ending in -k go through a sound change in the nominative plural, turning jastuk into jastuci. But this sound change does not happen in the accusative plural! We just add the standard masculine accusative plural ending -e to the original root, giving us jastuke.
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