Breakdown of Zašto su te imenovali zamjenikom?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ti
you (sg. informal)
zašto
why
imenovati
to appoint
zamjenik
deputy
Questions & Answers about Zašto su te imenovali zamjenikom?
Why is zamjenikom in the instrumental case here?
The verb imenovati (to appoint) is a verb of designating. In Croatian, the role or title someone is given is often put in the instrumental case. This is known as the instrumental of predication, showing what someone is designated to be.
Can I express 'appoint as deputy' without using the instrumental case?
Yes, there is a very common alternative. You can use the preposition za followed by the accusative case. So, you could also say Zašto su te imenovali za zamjenika? with absolutely no difference in meaning.
Is the verb imenovati perfective or imperfective in this sentence?
It acts as a perfective verb here because the appointment is a completed event. However, imenovati is a biaspectual verb, which means it can function as either perfective or imperfective depending on the context, without needing a separate verb form.
Just a quick refresher: why is the word order su te imenovali and not su imenovali te?
Both su (auxiliary verb) and te (accusative pronoun) are enclitics, meaning they are unstressed and must clump together in the second position of the sentence, right after Zašto. In this enclitic cluster, auxiliary verbs always step in line before pronouns, so su must come before te.
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