Word
Ne vjerujem ovoj karti, naš položaj nije na jugoistoku!
Meaning
I do not trust this map, our position is not in the southeast!
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ne vjerujem ovoj karti, naš položaj nije na jugoistoku!
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
ne
no, not
nisam
am not (nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu)
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
Questions & Answers about Ne vjerujem ovoj karti, naš položaj nije na jugoistoku!
Why is the map in the dative case (ovoj karti) instead of the accusative?
The verb vjerovati (to believe or to trust) requires its object to be in the dative case in Croatian. Even though trust takes a direct object in English, in Croatian you are conceptually giving trust to the map.
Why do we use the preposition na for in the southeast (na jugoistoku) instead of u?
In Croatian, compass points always take the preposition na paired with the locative case to indicate location. You must say na sjeveru (in the north) or na jugu (in the south) rather than using the preposition u.
Could I use the word mapi instead of karti here?
While some people do use mapa as a loanword for a geographical map, karta is the more standard word. Keep in mind that mapa frequently means a physical folder for documents, whereas karta can mean a map, a ticket, or a playing card.
How is the compound word jugoistoku formed?
It combines jug (south) and istok (east) using the linking vowel -o-. This is the standard way to glue two roots together in Croatian compound words. The final -u is simply the locative case ending.