Breakdown of Kritika je vrlo stroga. Doduše, film nije remek-djelo.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ne
no, not
film
movie
strog
strict
vrlo
very (formal)
doduše
admittedly / though
kritika
review / critique
remek-djelo
masterpiece
Questions & Answers about Kritika je vrlo stroga. Doduše, film nije remek-djelo.
How does doduše work here, and could we put it somewhere else in the sentence?
Doduše introduces a concession, meaning 'admittedly' or 'to be fair.' It acknowledges a fact that softens or slightly contrasts with the previous statement (the review was harsh, but to be fair, the movie wasn't perfect). It often sits at the beginning of a sentence followed by a comma, but it can also come right after the subject, such as in Film doduše nije remek-djelo.
Does kritika always mean a written 'review', or can it refer to 'criticism' in general?
It means both! Depending on the context, kritika can mean the general concept of criticism, or it can mean a specific published review of a book, film, or restaurant. Because this sentence is about a movie, it translates best as 'the review'.
The word remek-djelo has a hyphen. How do we decline this compound noun if we want to change its grammatical case?
Only the second part, djelo (work or deed), changes its ending. The first part, remek (master), is an old loanword that always stays the same. For example, to say 'without a masterpiece', you just put the second half into the genitive case: bez remek-djela.
Just a quick refresher: why do we use the form stroga instead of strog here?
Stroga is the feminine singular form of the adjective strog (strict or harsh). It takes the feminine ending here because it must agree with the feminine noun kritika.
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