Breakdown of Moj brat je uvijek razočaran kada čuje loše vijesti s posla.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
brat
brother
uvijek
always
čuti
to hear
posao
job / work
loš
bad
kada
when / if (with conditional)
moj
my
vijest
news
s
from, off (+ genitive)
razočaran
disappointed (+ instrumental)
Questions & Answers about Moj brat je uvijek razočaran kada čuje loše vijesti s posla.
Why is razočaran used here instead of a regular verb, and how does it behave grammatically?
Razočaran is a past passive participle of the perfective verb razočarati (to disappoint), but here it functions purely as a stative adjective describing a psychological state. Because it acts as an adjective, it must agree with the subject in gender and number. If the subject were a sister, it would be razočarana.
How does the verb čuje fit with the word uvijek (always), which usually requires an imperfective verb?
The verb čuti (to hear) is biaspectual, meaning it can function as both a perfective and an imperfective verb using the exact same form. In this sentence, triggered by uvijek and kada, it naturally acts as an imperfective verb meaning 'whenever he hears'.
Why is the phrase loše vijesti plural when the English translation uses the singular word 'news'?
Unlike English where 'news' is an uncountable singular concept, the Croatian word vijest (a piece of news) is a countable feminine noun. When referring to news in general or multiple updates, Croatian uses the plural form vijesti. Here it is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb.
Why do we use the preposition s in the phrase s posla (from work) instead of iz?
The prepositions iz and s (or sa) both mean 'from' and trigger the genitive case, but they are paired with different directional prepositions. Because you go to work using na (idem na posao), returning from it requires its opposite pair, s. You only use iz if you went somewhere using u.
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