Breakdown of Grad treba novu infrastrukturu. Uz to, moramo izgraditi most.
grad
city
nov
new
trebati
to need / should (ought to)
morati
must
most
bridge
izgraditi
to construct
infrastruktura
infrastructure
uz to
additionally
Questions & Answers about Grad treba novu infrastrukturu. Uz to, moramo izgraditi most.
How does uz to function differently here than just connecting the sentences with i (and)?
Uz to literally means "along with that" or "besides that." As an elaborative discourse marker, it translates to "additionally" or "furthermore." It signals that the second point (building a bridge) is a distinct, substantial addition to the previous point, giving it more weight than a simple i would.
What case is the pronoun to in the phrase uz to?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition uz requires the accusative when it is used to mean "along with," "next to," or "besides." In this sentence, the pronoun to (that) neatly packages and refers back to the entire situation described in the first sentence.
Why use the perfective verb izgraditi instead of the imperfective graditi?
We use the perfective izgraditi because the focus is on the successful completion of the bridge. If you used the imperfective graditi, it would focus on the ongoing process of building, meaning "we must be in the process of building a bridge," rather than "we must get a bridge built."
I learned that trebati is often used impersonally. Why is it behaving like a regular verb here with Grad treba?
When trebati means "to need a thing" (taking a noun as a direct object, like novu infrastrukturu), it acts as a normal, personal verb that conjugates to match its subject. You generally only use it impersonally (where the verb stays frozen as treba) when it is followed by another verb to express that "it is necessary to do something."
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