Word
Novinarka je pitala gdje spava poznata plesačica.
Meaning
The female journalist asked where the famous female dancer sleeps.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Novinarka je pitala gdje spava poznata plesačica.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
gdje
where
spavati
to sleep
pitati
to ask
Questions & Answers about Novinarka je pitala gdje spava poznata plesačica.
How do we form the feminine noun novinarka from its male equivalent?
The male word for a journalist is novinar. To make it feminine, we add the suffix -ka, creating novinarka. The -ka suffix is frequently used for male professions ending in -r.
Why does the word plesačica use the -ica suffix instead of -ka?
The male noun for a dancer is plesač. When a male profession ends in -ač (which usually describes someone performing an action, like plesati for dancing), the feminine form almost always takes the -ica suffix.
Why is the word order gdje spava poznata plesačica rather than matching the English order?
In English, we put the subject before the verb in this type of clause. In Croatian subordinate clauses, it is much more natural to place the verb (spava) immediately after the connecting word (gdje), moving the subject (poznata plesačica) to the end of the sentence.
Could we use the perfective verb upitala instead of pitala in this sentence?
Yes. The imperfective pitala simply reports the fact that she asked, which is the standard way to introduce indirect questions. However, using the perfective upitala would also be correct if you wanted to emphasize the exact, completed moment she posed the question.