Questions & Answers about Ljudi rijetko rade dva posla istovremeno.
Since this lesson is about the present verbal adverb for simultaneous actions, why isn't there an -ći word here?
The present verbal adverb connects two distinct actions (verbs) done by the same subject, like 'singing while working'. In this sentence, there is only one action (rade). The people are doing two things (jobs) at once, not two verbal actions. Therefore, we just use the regular adverb istovremeno (simultaneously).
Why is the word for jobs posla instead of the plural form poslovi?
After the numbers two (dva), three (tri), and four (četiri), masculine nouns must take the genitive singular. The dictionary form is posao. To get the genitive singular, the fleeting 'a' drops out, and the 'o' at the end changes back to an 'l', giving us posla.
Could I say u isto vrijeme instead of istovremeno?
Yes, u isto vrijeme literally means 'at the same time' and is completely interchangeable with istovremeno here. Both are very common in everyday speech.
Why is rijetko placed before the verb rade?
Adverbs of frequency like rijetko (rarely), često (often), or uvijek (always) typically go immediately before the verb they modify. While Croatian word order is flexible, putting it before the verb sounds the most natural.