Breakdown of Zanima ga zašto je naša katedrala najpoznatija znamenitost.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
zašto
why
ga
him, it (accusative clitic)
naš
our
najpoznatiji
most famous
zanimati
to interest
znamenitost
sight
katedrala
cathedral
Questions & Answers about Zanima ga zašto je naša katedrala najpoznatija znamenitost.
Why is the verb je placed right after zašto instead of later in the clause?
In Croatian, enclitics like the short verb je must take the second position in their specific clause. In reported questions, the question word (zašto) acts as the first position of the dependent clause, so the clitic must immediately follow it. This shifts the clitic earlier than you might expect coming from English, where the verb would follow 'our cathedral'.
The translation says 'He wonders', but the sentence starts with zanima ga. How does this phrasing work?
Croatian commonly expresses 'wondering' or 'wanting to know' with the verb zanimati (to interest). This sentence literally translates to 'It interests him why...'. The word ga is the object 'him', and the entire dependent clause about the cathedral acts as the subject that is interesting him.
How is the adjective najpoznatija formed?
It is the superlative form of poznat (famous). To make a superlative in Croatian, you take the comparative form (poznatija, meaning 'more famous') and add the prefix naj-. It uses the feminine -a ending here to match the noun it describes.
The noun znamenitost ends in a consonant. Why does it take the feminine adjective najpoznatija?
While most nouns ending in a consonant are masculine, almost all Croatian nouns ending in the suffix -ost are feminine. Because znamenitost (sight or landmark) belongs to this feminine group, any adjectives modifying it must take feminine endings.
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