Breakdown of Restoran ima lijep ambijent. Doduše, hrana je osrednja.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
lijep
beautiful
restoran
restaurant
imati
to have
Questions & Answers about Restoran ima lijep ambijent. Doduše, hrana je osrednja.
What is the difference between using doduše here instead of just saying ali (but)?
While ali directly contrasts two ideas, doduše concedes a point that weakens the first statement, much like 'admittedly', 'to be fair', or 'though' in English. It acknowledges the nice atmosphere but adds a slightly disappointing caveat about the food.
Can doduše change positions in this sentence?
Yes, it is very flexible. Because it acts as an adverbial particle rather than a strict conjunction, you could also say Hrana je, doduše, osrednja (The food is, admittedly, mediocre) or Hrana je osrednja, doduše (The food is mediocre, though).
Why doesn't lijep ambijent have an accusative ending here since it is the direct object of ima?
Because ambijent is a masculine inanimate noun. In Croatian, masculine nouns that do not represent living beings have an accusative form that is completely identical to their nominative (dictionary) form. Therefore, both the adjective lijep and the noun ambijent look exactly as they would in the nominative case.
The word osrednja looks related to the word for 'middle'. How is it formed?