Question 1

The first part is "we left" (ostavili smo). Why does the second part use bi instead of bismo?

Accepted Answer

Because the subject changes! In the first part, "we" are the ones who left the documents. But in the purpose clause, the manager (direktor) is the subject. Since he is the one doing the approving, we use the 3rd person singular form bi along with the masculine L-participle odobrio to form the conditional ("he would approve").

Question 2

Why does the pronoun nam go right after kako bi?

Accepted Answer

Nam (to/for us) is an enclitic, a "weak" word that naturally wants to jump to the second position in its clause. The phrase kako bi acts as the opening block of the purpose clause, so nam takes the very next slot before the subject (direktor) or the main verb (odobrio).

Question 3

I see u banci for "in the bank". Why does banka change its k to a c here?

Accepted Answer

This is a spelling and pronunciation rule called sibilarization. When you put a feminine noun ending in -ka, -ga, or -ha into the dative or locative case, the consonant shifts. Here, we need the locative case for "in the bank", so the k in banka shifts to a c, giving us banci.

Question 4

Kredit (the loan) is the direct object of the verb. Why doesn't it have an accusative ending like -a?

Accepted Answer

Because kredit is an inanimate masculine noun. For masculine nouns that are objects or concepts (not people or animals), the accusative case looks exactly identical to the basic nominative case.

Ostavili smo dokumente u banci kako bi nam direktor odobrio kredit.

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