Breakdown of Pojest ćemo kolačiće poslije ručka.
ručak
lunch
ću
will (ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će)
poslije
after, later
pojesti
to eat (perfective)
kolačić
cookie
Questions & Answers about Pojest ćemo kolačiće poslije ručka.
How do we get the word kolačiće from the standard word for cake?
The base masculine noun is kolač (cake). To make it a diminutive, we add the suffix -ić to get kolačić. While it literally means "little cake", kolačić is the standard Croatian word for "cookie".
Why does kolačiće end in -e instead of -i if it's plural?
Because it is the direct object of the sentence (the thing being eaten), so it must be in the accusative case. For masculine nouns ending in -ć, the nominative plural (the subject) ends in -i (kolačići), but the accusative plural ends in -e (kolačiće).
Why use the verb pojesti here instead of just jesti?
Pojesti is the perfective (completed action) form of jesti (to eat). Using pojest ćemo implies we will finish eating the cookies entirely. Notice also that the infinitive pojesti drops its final -i because it comes immediately before the future helper word ćemo.
Why does the word for lunch (ručak) become ručka here?
First, the preposition poslije (after) always requires the following noun to be in the genitive case, so we add an -a. Second, ručak has a "fleeting a" — the -a- in the last syllable disappears when a suffix is added. Therefore, ručak + -a becomes ručka.
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