Breakdown of On se potajno zaljubio u tu kolegicu.
on
he
u
in, into
kolegica
female colleague
taj
that (masculine)
potajno
secretly
zaljubiti se
to fall in love
Questions & Answers about On se potajno zaljubio u tu kolegicu.
Why does the sentence use the preposition u instead of the Croatian word for "with"?
In English, you fall in love with someone, but in Croatian, the verb zaljubiti se (to fall in love) always subcategorizes for the preposition u followed by the accusative case. You can think of it as directing your emotions into someone. This is why it triggers the accusative object u tu kolegicu instead of using s (with).
Why are both tu and kolegicu in the accusative case?
Because the preposition u when used with zaljubiti se strictly requires the accusative case. The demonstrative pronoun ta (that) must agree in gender, number, and case with the feminine noun it modifies, kolegica. Therefore, both change their endings to -u, becoming tu kolegicu.
Why is the reflexive pronoun se separated from the verb zaljubio?
The word se is a clitic, which is an unstressed word that almost always insists on taking the second position in a Croatian sentence. Because the subject pronoun On takes the first spot, se must immediately follow it. The adverb potajno and the main verb zaljubio are then pushed further down the sentence.
How is the word potajno (secretly) formed?
It is an adverb derived from the adjective potajan (secret or hidden), which is built from the core noun tajna (a secret). Like most Croatian adverbs of manner, potajno is simply the neuter singular form of that adjective.
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