Breakdown of Kabel je opasan kada nije zategnut.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ne
no, not
kada
when / if (with conditional)
opasan
dangerous
kabel
cable
zategnuti
to tighten
Questions & Answers about Kabel je opasan kada nije zategnut.
Why does zategnut end in -t instead of -n?
The verb here is zategnuti (to tighten). Verbs that end in -nuti in their infinitive form generally take the -t ending to form the passive participle. You take the infinitive stem (zategnu-) and add -t, giving you zategnut.
What would happen to zategnut if we used a feminine noun like žica (wire) instead of kabel?
Passive participles act just like adjectives, meaning they must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Since žica is feminine, both the adjective opasan and the participle zategnut would take feminine endings: Žica je opasna kada nije zategnuta.
The word opasan ends in -an. Is it also a passive participle in this sentence?
Is zategnuti a perfective or imperfective verb, and why does that matter here?
Zategnuti is a perfective verb (indicating a completed action). Passive participles are most commonly formed from perfective verbs because they describe the result or state of a finished action—in this case, the physical state of the cable once the tightening is complete.
Learn Kabel je opasan kada nije zategnut 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