Breakdown of Nikada ne objašnjavam svoje odluke.
ne
no, not
nikada
never
odluka
decision
svoj
one's own
objašnjavati
to explain
Questions & Answers about Nikada ne objašnjavam svoje odluke.
How is the imperfective verb objašnjavati derived from its perfective form?
The perfective verb is objasniti (to explain). To create this iterative imperfective (which focuses on a repeated or habitual action), we add the suffix -avati. Notice that the root undergoes a consonant change (iotation) before the suffix: the sn combination turns into šn, giving us objašnjavati.
Since objašnjavati is an extended verb, why is the present tense objašnjavam and not objašnjujem?
Verbs that use the -avati suffix to form imperfectives (like objašnjavati or obećavati) take the -am endings in the present tense. You only switch to the -ujem ending for verbs that end in -ovati (like vjerovati -> vjerujem) or -ivati (like pokazivati -> pokazujem).
Why is svoje used here instead of moje for "my"?
Svoje is the reflexive possessive pronoun. As a rule, whenever the object being possessed belongs to the subject of the clause doing the action, you must use a form of svoj. Since "I" am the subject and the decisions belong to "me", saying moje odluke here would sound unnatural.
Why do we need both nikada (never) and ne (not) in this sentence?
This is a reminder of Croatian's mandatory double negation. Whenever you use a negative adverb or pronoun like nikada (never), nitko (nobody), or ništa (nothing), the verb itself must also be negated with ne.
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