Questions & Answers about Nema opuštanja bez tišine.
How is the verbal noun opuštanje formed in this sentence?
It is formed from the imperfective verb opuštati (to relax). By taking the verb stem and adding -nje, you create a neuter noun that represents the action itself. Note that these verbal nouns are almost always formed from imperfective verbs rather than perfective ones.
Why is the verbal noun spelled opuštanja instead of its base form opuštanje?
It is in the Genitive case because of the word nema (there is no). When expressing the absence of something using nema, the thing that is missing must take the Genitive case. For the neuter noun opuštanje, that means changing the final -e to an -a.
Could I use an infinitive verb instead and say nema opuštati?
No, you can't use an infinitive here. Because nema requires a Genitive object, you must use a noun or pronoun. This is exactly why verbal nouns are so useful—they allow you to turn an action (relaxing) into a grammatical noun (relaxation) so it can take case endings.
What triggers the -e ending on tišine?
The preposition bez (without) is the trigger. It always requires the noun following it to be in the Genitive case. The base word is the feminine noun tišina (silence), and its Genitive singular ending is -e.
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