Breakdown of Nakon što smo sklopili obje makete, uzeli smo vijke.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
uzeti
to take
obje
both (feminine)
nakon
after (+ genitive)
što
that (subordinating conjunction)
maketa
scale model
sklopiti
to assemble / to put together
vijak
screw
Questions & Answers about Nakon što smo sklopili obje makete, uzeli smo vijke.
How does the prefix s- function in the verb sklopili?
The prefix s- here indicates assembly or bringing things together. Attached to the root for folding or fitting, it creates sklopiti (to assemble, put together, or fold shut). It is a classic example of how s- acts as a prefix of convergence.
Why do we say Nakon što smo instead of just Nakon smo?
In Croatian, nakon is a preposition and must be followed by a noun in the genitive case (like nakon ručka, after lunch). Because we are following it with a full clause containing a verb (smo sklopili), we have to use the conjunction nakon što.
Why is the word for 'both' obje here, and what case is makete in?
Maketa is a feminine noun, so we must use the feminine form obje (masculine and neuter nouns use oba). Just like the numbers 2, 3, and 4, the word obje triggers the genitive singular case. So, makete here is actually genitive singular, not accusative plural!
Why is the clitic smo placed before the verb in the first clause, but after it in the second?
Clitics always want to be in the second position of a clause. In the first clause, the conjunction phrase Nakon što takes the first slot, forcing smo to come before the main verb. In the second clause, there is no introductory word, so the verb uzeli is put first to give the clitic smo its required second position.
The word for screw is vijak. Why does it become vijke here?
This is an example of the fleeting a (nepostojano a). When the accusative plural ending -e is added to vijak, the a in the final syllable of the root drops out to make the word easier to say, resulting in vijke.
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