Breakdown of Dirigent gleda orkestar s poštovanjem.
gledati
to watch
s
with
orkestar
orchestra
dirigent
conductor
Questions & Answers about Dirigent gleda orkestar s poštovanjem.
Why do we use the preposition s here? Doesn't the Instrumental case alone usually mean 'with'?
You drop the preposition when using the Instrumental case for a physical tool (like writing with a pen). However, when you use the Instrumental case to describe an abstract manner or feeling (how you do something, like looking with respect), you must include the preposition s or sa.
Why is it s poštovanjem and not sa poštovanjem?
The preposition s only expands to sa when the next word begins with a sound that makes s hard to pronounce, such as s, z, š, or ž. Because poštovanje starts with a p, the short form s is perfectly fine to use.
Since orkestar is the direct object being looked at, why doesn't it have an Accusative case ending?
Orkestar actually is in the Accusative case here! Because it is an inanimate masculine noun (a thing, not a living being), its Accusative form is identical to its Nominative form. That is why the word appears unchanged.
What verb does the noun poštovanje come from?
It comes from the verb poštovati (to respect). In Croatian, you can often form abstract nouns that describe an action or state by adding -nje to the verb's base, which is very similar to adding '-tion' or '-ing' in English.