Breakdown of Zavoljela je novi grad vrlo brzo.
grad
city
nov
new
vrlo
very (formal)
zavoljeti
to grow fond of (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Zavoljela je novi grad vrlo brzo.
What is the difference between voljela and zavoljela?
Voljela is from the imperfective verb voljeti (to love), which describes an ongoing state. Adding the prefix za- creates the perfective verb zavoljeti, which focuses on the start of that state. That is why it translates to 'grew fond of' or 'started to love' rather than just 'loved'.
Why doesn't the object novi grad have an accusative case ending?
Grad is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing). For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative case form looks exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) form. If the object were a living masculine noun, like a dog, the adjective and noun would change (novog psa).
Why is je the second word, and why is there no word for 'she'?
In Croatian, the subject pronoun (ona) is often dropped because the verb ending already shows who is acting. Since ona is dropped, the verb zavoljela is the first word. The auxiliary verb je is an enclitic, which means it is a 'weak' word that must always take the second position in the sentence.
Is there a reason the adjective is novi instead of nov?
For masculine adjectives, nov is the indefinite form and novi is the definite form. In the accusative case for inanimate objects, native speakers heavily prefer using the definite -i ending in everyday speech, which is why you see novi grad here.
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