Breakdown of Prijateljica pita je li teško šišati djecu.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
težak
difficult / severe, serious
li
question particle
prijateljica
friend (f)
pitati
to ask
djeca
children
šišati
to cut hair
Questions & Answers about Prijateljica pita je li teško šišati djecu.
Why do we use je li here, and how does it translate to 'if'?
In English, we report yes/no questions using 'if' or 'whether' (The friend asks if it is difficult). In standard Croatian, we use je li to introduce these reported yes/no questions. You might also hear people say da li in everyday speech to mean the exact same thing, but je li is the standard, preferred form taught in this lesson.
Why is the word for 'difficult' written as teško instead of teški or teška?
Teško is used here as an impersonal expression meaning 'it is difficult'. When expressing a general state or condition where there isn't a specific masculine or feminine noun acting as the subject, Croatian uses the neuter form of the adjective, which is identical to the adverb form.
Wait, why is the accusative of 'children' djecu? Isn't 'children' plural?
The word djeca (children) is a collective noun. Even though it refers to a plural group of people, it behaves grammatically exactly like a feminine singular noun. Because it is the direct object of the verb šišati (to cut hair), it must be in the accusative case. Just like the feminine singular noun žena becomes ženu, djeca becomes djecu.
Does šišati mean to cut anything, or just hair?
Šišati specifically means to cut hair, or to shear an animal. You cannot use it for cutting paper, vegetables, or fabric. For those general cutting actions, you would use the verb rezati.
Learn Prijateljica pita je li teško šišati djecu and more in Croatian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free