Breakdown of Pijem kavu i gledam prolaznike kako hodaju.
i
and (additive)
kava
coffee
gledati
to watch
piti
to drink
hodati
to walk (move on foot)
prolaznik
passerby
kako
(after perception verbs) -ing / that
Questions & Answers about Pijem kavu i gledam prolaznike kako hodaju.
Why do we use kako in this sentence instead of da?
This is a complement clause of perception. After verbs of seeing, hearing, or watching (like gledati), Croatian uses kako + a conjugated verb to describe an ongoing action you are witnessing. It translates closely to the English '-ing' form or bare infinitive (watching passersby walk or walking).
Why is the word for passersby written as prolaznike here?
It is the accusative plural form of the masculine noun prolaznik (passerby). It takes the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb gledam (I am watching).
Who is the subject of the verb hodaju?
The logical subject of hodaju (they walk) is the passersby. Even though prolaznike is in the accusative case for the first part of the sentence, the kako clause takes its own verb that agrees with the plural people doing the walking.
Could we use perfective verbs like popijem or pogledam here?
No, because the sentence describes an ongoing, simultaneous scene. The imperfective verbs pijem (I am drinking), gledam (I am watching), and hodaju (they are walking) are required to show that these continuous actions are all happening at the exact same time.
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