Word
Treba nam snage.
Meaning
We need some strength.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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Questions & Answers about Treba nam snage.
Why is the noun snage in the genitive case instead of the accusative?
This is the bare partitive genitive being taught in this lesson. By putting the uncountable noun snaga (strength) into the genitive case as snage, it translates to some strength. You do not need to add a quantity word; the case itself shows that you mean an unspecified amount.
Why do we use treba rather than trebamo (we need)?
The verb trebati (to need) is often used impersonally in Croatian. Instead of saying we need, the structure is literally [some] strength is needed to us. Since the thing being needed is an unspecified amount expressed with a partitive genitive, the verb defaults to the third-person singular form, treba.
Why is the word for we in the dative case (nam)?
Because of the impersonal structure explained above, the logical subject (the person who needs the thing) acts as the indirect object. The dative pronoun nam literally means to us, so the sentence translates roughly to some strength is needed to us.
Could we change the word order to Nam treba snage?
No, because nam is an enclitic (a short, unstressed word). Enclitics must take the second position in a sentence. Here, it must come immediately after the first word, treba.