Breakdown of Ovaj mobitel je ne samo pouzdan, nego i vodootporan.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
i
and (additive)
mobitel
cellphone
ne
no, not
samo
only
nego
than
pouzdan
reliable
vodootporan
waterproof
Questions & Answers about Ovaj mobitel je ne samo pouzdan, nego i vodootporan.
How exactly do we use ne samo..., nego i... in this sentence?
This pair of conjunctions connects two related ideas, adding emphasis to the second one. Here, it connects two adjectives, pouzdan and vodootporan, which both describe the mobile phone. Notice how ne samo comes right before the first adjective, and nego i comes right before the second.
Could I use već i instead of nego i here?
Yes, you can! Both nego i and već i are completely interchangeable when paired with ne samo. You could say ne samo pouzdan, već i vodootporan and the meaning remains exactly the same.
Why is the verb je placed before ne samo, and not after it?
The verb je is an enclitic, meaning it is a short word that must take the second grammatical position in a clause. Here, it naturally follows the first distinct phrase, which is the subject Ovaj mobitel.
How is the word vodootporan formed?
It is a compound adjective made of two words you likely already know: voda (water) and otporan (resistant). They are joined together by the linking vowel o, which is the standard way to create compound words in Croatian.
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