Breakdown of Moja glavna obaveza je briga o sebi.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
sebe
oneself (stressed reflexive)
moj
my
glavni
main
Questions & Answers about Moja glavna obaveza je briga o sebi.
Why is sebi used here instead of sebe or the short form se?
The preposition o (about) requires the locative case. The locative form of the reflexive pronoun sebe (oneself) is sebi. Also, you can never use the short form se after a preposition; prepositions always require the long, full form of a pronoun.
Why do we say briga o sebi? Doesn't o mean "about"?
Yes, o means "about," so this literally translates to "care about myself." In Croatian, the noun briga (care) and the verb brinuti (to care) are most commonly paired with the preposition o plus the locative case to mean "taking care of" someone or something.
If sebi means "myself" here, how would I say "taking care of himself"?
You would still use sebi! The reflexive pronoun sebe (and its declined forms like sebi) always refers back to the logical subject of the sentence, regardless of person or gender. If the sentence were about a man, sebi would automatically mean "himself."
Could I use a verb instead of the noun briga to say this?