Breakdown of Zar će izbaciti najboljeg natjecatelja?
htjeti
to want (intent, will)
zar
really? (surprise) / right? (tag question)
najbolji
best
izbaciti
to eliminate
Questions & Answers about Zar će izbaciti najboljeg natjecatelja?
How does zar change the meaning compared to a normal question?
Using zar adds a strong sense of surprise, disbelief, or shock. While a standard question like Hoće li izbaciti... simply asks a neutral yes/no question, starting with zar translates closer to 'Are they really going to...?' or 'Surely they aren't going to...?'.
Why do we use će here instead of the regular question form hoće li?
When you start a question with zar, you do not use the standard question particle li. You simply take the normal statement, which is (oni) će izbaciti (they will eliminate), and put zar right in front of it.
Why do the words najboljeg natjecatelja have these specific endings?
They are in the accusative case because the contestant is the direct object (the person being eliminated). Because natjecatelj is a masculine noun representing a living person (animate), it takes the same endings as the genitive case. This means adding an -a to the noun and using the -eg ending for the adjective.
Does the verb izbaciti only mean to eliminate someone from a contest?
No, it literally translates to 'to throw out' (from the prefix iz- meaning 'out' and baciti meaning 'to throw'). In everyday Croatian, it is used for everything from eliminating a player in a game to physically throwing something out.