Breakdown of Pročitao sam samo dio knjige, a drugog dijela se ne sjećam.
knjiga
book
drugi
other, different
pročitati
to read (perfective)
dio
part, portion
sjećati se
to remember (imperfective, + genitive)
Questions & Answers about Pročitao sam samo dio knjige, a drugog dijela se ne sjećam.
Why is drugog dijela in the genitive case instead of the accusative?
The reflexive verb sjećati se (to remember) always requires its object to be in the genitive case. While the first part of the sentence uses the accusative for the direct object of pročitao, the second part must switch to the genitive because of the verb sjećati se.
Why does the word dio (part) change so drastically to dijela in the second half?
The masculine noun dio has a root that originally ends in the letter l (dijel-). In Croatian, an l at the end of a word often changes to an o. When we add the genitive ending -a, the l is no longer at the end of the word, so it reappears to form dijela.
The English translation uses the word and, so why does the Croatian sentence use a instead of i?
In Croatian, a is used to connect two clauses while showing a slight contrast between them. Even though English often uses and here, Croatian naturally uses a to highlight the contrast between the part of the book you read and the part you forgot.
Could I use the imperfective verb čitao instead of pročitao here?
Using the imperfective čitao would focus on the ongoing process of reading. Because you are talking about a completed action regarding that specific part of the book, the perfective verb pročitao is the correct choice.
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