Breakdown of Danas dolaze jedni stranci umjesto Ivana Horvata.
danas
today
dolaziti
to come
stranac
foreigner
umjesto
instead of
Ivan
Ivan
Horvat
Horvat
jedni
some / one pair (m)
Questions & Answers about Danas dolaze jedni stranci umjesto Ivana Horvata.
Why is the word for 'one' (jedni) used in the plural here?
While jedan usually means 'one', its plural forms (jedni, jedne, jedna) are used to mean 'some' or 'certain' when placed before a regular plural noun. Here, jedni stranci means 'some strangers' or 'a certain group of strangers'.
Does the word stranci mean 'strangers' or 'foreigners'?
It can mean both! The singular noun stranac translates to both 'foreigner' (someone from another country) and 'stranger' (someone you do not know). You have to rely on the context of the conversation to know which is meant.
Why are both parts of the name Ivan Horvat changed to Ivana Horvata?
The preposition umjesto (instead of) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the genitive case. In Croatian, both the first name and the last name of a male person decline, so Ivan Horvat gets the masculine genitive -a ending on both words.
What happens to the 'a' from the singular word stranac when it becomes stranci?
This is an example of the 'fleeting a' in Croatian. Many masculine nouns ending in -ac drop that final 'a' when they take an ending, such as the plural suffix -i. So, stranac loses its 'a' and becomes stranci.
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