Questions & Answers about Stol ima četiri noge, a pas nema ruku.
Why is the word for "and" here a instead of i?
In Croatian, a is used to contrast two different subjects or situations. Here, you are contrasting the table with the dog. While i simply adds similar things together, a acts more like "while" or "whereas," even though it is often translated into English as "and" or "but."
What case is noge in after the number četiri?
In Croatian, nouns following the numbers two, three, and four take a special grammatical form. For feminine a-stem nouns like noga, this form happens to look exactly like the standard nominative plural, which is noge.
The translation says "no arms" (plural), but isn't ruku the accusative singular form?
That is a great catch! While ruku is the accusative singular form of ruka, it is also the genitive plural form. When expressing the complete absence of something using a negative verb like nema (doesn't have), Croatian often uses the genitive case, which is known as the genitive of negation. So here, ruku is the genitive plural, meaning "zero arms."
Do noga and ruka have other meanings?
Yes! In Croatian, noga can mean both "leg" and "foot," while ruka means both "arm" and "hand." You have to rely on context to know which one is meant.