Breakdown of Iskrenost i važnost istine su uvijek povezane.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
i
and (additive)
uvijek
always
istina
truth
povezan
connected
iskrenost
honesty
važnost
importance
Questions & Answers about Iskrenost i važnost istine su uvijek povezane.
Both iskrenost and važnost end in -ost. How are these nouns formed from their root words?
These are abstract feminine nouns formed by adding -ost to an adjective. For example, iskren (honest) becomes iskrenost (honesty). If the root adjective has a fleeting a (an a that disappears when endings are added), like važan (important), that a drops out before adding the suffix, resulting in važnost (importance).
Nouns usually end in a consonant if they are masculine. Why do these nouns trigger the feminine plural ending on povezane?
Abstract nouns ending in the suffix -ost are an important exception to the general gender rules. They are always feminine, despite ending in a consonant. Because both iskrenost and važnost are feminine nouns, the participle describing them must be in the feminine plural form, which is why we use povezane instead of the default masculine plural povezani.
If we changed one of the subjects to a masculine noun, how would povezane change?
It would change to the masculine plural form, povezani. In Croatian, a mixed-gender compound subject (for example, one masculine noun and one feminine noun) always defaults to masculine plural agreement for verbs and adjectives. The feminine plural povezane is only used here because every part of the compound subject is feminine.
The enclitic verb su is the fifth word in the sentence. Doesn't it have to be in the second position?
It is in the second position! In Croatian, the second position can mean either after the first single word, or after the first complete grammatical phrase. Here, Iskrenost i važnost istine (Honesty and the importance of truth) acts as a single, inseparable subject block. Therefore, su naturally takes its place immediately after this entire phrase.
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