Breakdown of Lice mu je blijedo kao da je bolestan.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
on
he
bolestan
sick
lice
face
kao
like, as
da
that (conjunction)
blijed
pale
Questions & Answers about Lice mu je blijedo kao da je bolestan.
Why does this sentence use the present tense (je bolestan) after 'kao da' when English often says 'as if he were sick'?
In Croatian, after kao da (as if), you use the tense that matches the timeframe of the impression. Because he appears sick right now in the present, we use the present tense je bolestan. English often shifts to a past form like 'were' to show unreality, but Croatian keeps it simple by matching the actual time.
Why is 'mu' used here for 'his' instead of a possessive pronoun like 'njegovo'?
Using the dative clitic mu (to him) is the most natural way to express possession of body parts or personal items in Croatian. While you could grammatically say Njegovo lice je blijedo, saying Lice mu je blijedo (literally 'The face to him is pale') sounds much more native.
Why do the two adjectives have different endings, with 'blijedo' ending in '-o' and 'bolestan' ending in a consonant?
Adjectives have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Blijedo (pale) ends in -o because it describes lice (face), which is a neuter noun. Bolestan (sick) describes the man himself, so it takes the masculine singular form.
Why are the words 'mu' and 'je' placed right after 'Lice'?
Both mu and je are clitics, which are short, unstressed words that must sit in the strict 'second position' of a Croatian sentence. The noun Lice takes up the first position, so the clitic chain mu je has to immediately follow it.
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