Breakdown of Koliko god želim prokopati tunel, ne vidim pukotinu.
ne
no, not
vidjeti
to see
željeti
to want
tunel
tunnel
koliko god
no matter how much
prokopati
to dig through
pukotina
crack
Questions & Answers about Koliko god želim prokopati tunel, ne vidim pukotinu.
Why do we use the present indicative želim here instead of the conditional, given the "no matter how" structure?
Koliko god (no matter how much) can take either the indicative or the conditional depending on the reality of the statement. We use the indicative (želim) because the speaker's desire to dig is a real, current fact. If it were a hypothetical situation (meaning "No matter how much I might want to..."), we would use the conditional: Koliko god bih želio....
How does the prefix pro- change the verb in prokopati?
The prefix pro- often adds the sense of going "through" something from one side to the other, while also making the verb perfective (indicating a completed action). While kopati just means "to dig," prokopati means to successfully dig through an obstacle, which is exactly what you do with a tunnel.
Since tunel is the direct object of prokopati, why doesn't its ending change for the accusative case?
It actually is in the accusative case! Tunel is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living object). In Croatian, the accusative form of masculine inanimate nouns is identical to their nominative (dictionary) form. If it were an animate noun (a living being), it would take the -a ending.
Does the negative verb ne vidim force pukotinu to change its case?
No, pukotinu is in the standard accusative case here (from the feminine nominative noun pukotina) because it's the direct object of the verb. While some other Slavic languages require the "genitive of negation" for direct objects of negative verbs, modern Croatian generally sticks to the regular accusative case unless you are specifically expressing a partitive quantity (meaning "any" or "some").
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