Breakdown of Studenti često prepisuju na ispitu.
student
student
često
often
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
ispit
exam
prepisivati
to copy
Questions & Answers about Studenti često prepisuju na ispitu.
How does the verb prepisuju relate to the verbs pisati and prepisati, and why is this specific form used here?
Prepisuju comes from the imperfective verb prepisivati (to copy). It is formed by taking the perfective verb prepisati (to copy once) and adding the suffix -ivati to make it iterative, meaning a repeated action. Because the sentence uses često (often), we need this iterative imperfective form to show a habitual action.
Why does prepisivati become prepisuju in the present tense instead of something like "prepisivaju"?
Verbs ending in the suffix -ivati (as well as -ovati and -evati) drop that suffix and replace it with -uj- in the present tense. Therefore, the stem becomes prepisuj-, and adding the third-person plural ending gives us prepisuju.
Why do we use the locative case na ispitu instead of a specific time expression for "during the exam"?
In Croatian, events, gatherings, and institutions are often treated as locations. The preposition na taking the locative case is used to mean attending or being at an event, such as na ispitu (at the exam), na koncertu (at the concert), or na sastanku (at the meeting). So instead of a temporal word for "during", Croatian simply says the copying happens "at the exam".
Does prepisivati always mean "to cheat"?
Not always. Its literal meaning is "to copy text" or "to transcribe" (for example, copying notes from a blackboard to your notebook). However, whenever it is used in the context of an exam (na ispitu) or school tests, it is the standard everyday word for cheating by copying someone else's answers.
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