Questions & Answers about Pas je sisavac, odnosno on ima dlaku.
What exactly does odnosno do in this sentence, and could we just use ili instead?
In this sentence, odnosno acts as a clarificational conjunction meaning "that is to say" or "in other words". It links two clauses that describe the same concept. If you used ili (or), it would sound like an exclusive choice—as if a dog is either a mammal or it has hair, rather than having hair because it is a mammal.
Why is the pronoun on used here when the English translation says "it"?
Pronouns in Croatian must match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer back to. Since pas (dog) is a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun on, even though English uses the neuter "it" for animals.
Why does the sentence use dlaku for "hair" instead of kosu?
Dlaka (which becomes dlaku in the accusative case here) refers to animal fur or body hair. The word kosa is specifically reserved for the hair on a human's head.
Why is sisavac in the nominative case and not the accusative?
The verb je (is) acts as a linking verb connecting the subject (pas) to its description. When using the verb biti (to be) to state what something is, both the subject and the noun describing it remain in the nominative case.