Breakdown of On će probati taj ekstremni sport sa zadovoljstvom, pa makar se uplašio.
on
he
htjeti
to want (intent, will)
probati
to try
uplašiti se
to get scared
sa
with (before certain consonants)
sport
sport
taj
that (masculine)
zadovoljstvo
pleasure
ekstreman
extreme
pa makar
even if
Questions & Answers about On će probati taj ekstremni sport sa zadovoljstvom, pa makar se uplašio.
Could I use čak i ako instead of pa makar here?
Yes, but the grammar would change slightly. You would say čak i ako se uplaši (using the present tense). Pa makar carries a slightly more dramatic, defiant tone, emphasizing that he will do it regardless of the extreme condition.
Why is uplašio in a past tense form when the English translation says 'gets scared' (in the future)?
This is a special feature of pa makar. It is frequently followed by the active past participle (the l-participle, like uplašio) without its usual helper verb (je). In this structure, it doesn't refer to the past; instead, it expresses a strong hypothetical condition, similar to 'even if he were to get scared' in English.
What would it mean if I dropped the word se and just wrote pa makar uplašio?
It would sound incomplete. The verb uplašiti se is reflexive and means 'to get scared' or 'to become frightened'. Without se, the verb uplašiti means 'to scare [someone else]', so the sentence would leave the listener wondering who he is trying to scare.
Why do we use sa instead of the shorter preposition s before zadovoljstvom?
The preposition s (with) expands to sa whenever the following word begins with the letters s, z, š, or ž. Since zadovoljstvom starts with z, the extra vowel is added to make it easier to pronounce.
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