Breakdown of U inozemstvu je naučio tri jezika.
tri
three
jezik
language
naučiti
to learn completely
inozemstvo
abroad, foreign countries
Questions & Answers about U inozemstvu je naučio tri jezika.
Why is 'abroad' translated as u inozemstvu instead of just an adverb?
In Croatian, inozemstvo is a neuter noun meaning 'foreign countries' or 'abroad'. Because it indicates a static location where an action happened, it follows the preposition u and takes the locative case, which adds the -u ending.
Could I use učio instead of naučio here?
You could, but it changes the meaning. Učio is the imperfective form, focusing on the ongoing process ('he was learning' or 'he studied'). Naučio is the perfective form, which shows the action is complete—he successfully acquired or mastered the three languages.
Why is it tri jezika and not the regular plural tri jezici?
In Croatian, the numbers 2, 3, and 4 require a special rule. For masculine nouns like jezik, they must be followed by the genitive singular form, which is jezika. The regular nominative plural jezici is never used directly after numbers.
Why does the auxiliary verb je come right after u inozemstvu?
Je is an enclitic, which is an unstressed word that strongly prefers the second position in a sentence. The prepositional phrase u inozemstvu acts as a single block of meaning in the first position, so je correctly tucks in right behind it.
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