Breakdown of Kći je slična materi.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
kći
daughter
sličan
similar (+ dative)
mati
mother
Questions & Answers about Kći je slična materi.
Why does the word for mother change to 'materi' here?
The noun mati (mother) is highly irregular. In the Nominative case (when it is the subject), it is just mati, but for all other cases, it uses the extended stem mater-. Here it takes the Dative ending -i, making it materi.
Why is 'materi' in the Dative case instead of Accusative or Locative?
The adjective sličan / slična (similar) requires the Dative case for the person or thing being resembled. Just as we say 'similar TO the mother' in English, Croatian uses the Dative case here: slična materi.
Since 'kći' is the subject here, how would it look if it were the object of the sentence?
Just like mati expands to mater-, the irregular noun kći (daughter) expands to the stem kćer- in all cases except the Nominative. If it were the direct object (Accusative case), it would be kćer.
Could I use the more common word 'majka' instead of 'mati' in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! You could say Kći je slična majci. Majka is the standard, everyday word for mother, while mati is an older, more traditional word that is still taught because you will encounter it in literature, fixed phrases, and certain dialects.