Questions & Answers about Ima li bratov pas slomljenu šapu?
Why is "brother's" translated as bratov?
To say something belongs to a specific person, Croatian uses possessive adjectives. Since brat (brother) is a masculine noun ending in a hard consonant, we add the suffix -ov to make bratov. If it ended in a soft consonant (like č, ć, j, lj, nj, š, ž), we would use -ev instead.
Could I say pas brata instead of bratov pas?
Grammatically yes, but in Croatian, it sounds much more natural to use a possessive adjective like bratov when the owner is a single person, name, or family member. You would typically only use the Genitive case (like pas mog brata - my brother's dog) if the owner is described with multiple words.
Why are we using the form slomljenu šapu?
The phrase "broken paw" is the direct object of the verb ima (has), so it must be in the Accusative case. Šapa is a feminine noun, so its Accusative ending is -u, and the adjective slomljena has to match it, becoming slomljenu.
Why does the sentence start with Ima li?
This is the standard way to form a yes/no question in Croatian. You take the main verb (ima), put it at the very beginning of the sentence, and immediately follow it with the question particle li.