Breakdown of Neću staviti polugu u škrinju.
u
in, into
htjeti
to want (intent, will)
staviti
to put
škrinja
chest
poluga
lever
Questions & Answers about Neću staviti polugu u škrinju.
Why is it u škrinju (accusative) instead of u škrinji (locative) since the chest is a location?
Even though a chest is a place, the verb staviti (to put) shows movement into a destination. Prepositions like u take the accusative case when there is motion or direction towards something, and the locative case when something is already resting inside.
Does neću mean "I won't" or "I don't want to"?
It can mean both. Neću is the negative form of the verb htjeti. It acts as the auxiliary verb for the negative future tense (I will not put), but standing alone or in certain contexts it also translates to "I refuse" or "I don't want to."
Why doesn't the infinitive staviti lose its final "i" here to make stavit?
The infinitive only drops its final "i" in the positive future tense when it comes directly before the short auxiliary verb (like stavit ću). Because the negative auxiliary neću comes first here, the infinitive staviti keeps its full form.
Is staviti a perfective or imperfective verb?
It is perfective, meaning it describes a single, completed action of putting something down. If you wanted to describe the continuous or repeated action of putting things away, you would use its imperfective pair stavljati.
Learn Neću staviti polugu u škrinju and more in Croatian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free