Breakdown of Glasnogovornik ga smatra nedužnim čovjekom.
on
he
čovjek
man
smatrati
to consider
nedužan
innocent
Questions & Answers about Glasnogovornik ga smatra nedužnim čovjekom.
Why is nedužnim čovjekom in the Instrumental case?
The verb smatrati (to consider) evaluates or describes how the subject sees the object. In Croatian, this evaluation is expressed using the Instrumental case. This is called the Instrumental of predication. It essentially means the spokesperson considers him 'as being' an innocent man.
Is there another way to say this without using the Instrumental case?
Yes. You will frequently hear the verb smatrati used with the preposition za followed by the Accusative case, like smatra ga za nedužnog čovjeka. Both are common and mean the exact same thing, though the Instrumental version used here is generally considered better standard style.
Why doesn't the object pronoun ga come after the verb smatra?
Croatian enclitics must take the second position in a sentence or clause, regardless of where the verb is. Here, the first position is taken by the subject Glasnogovornik, so the short pronoun ga must directly follow it, pushing the verb to the third position.