Word
Ako imate karijes, zubar ga može brzo popraviti.
Meaning
If you have a cavity, the dentist can fix it quickly.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Ako imate karijes, zubar ga može brzo popraviti.
Why does the word karijes look exactly the same here as it does in the dictionary, even though it is the direct object?
Because karijes is a masculine inanimate noun. In Croatian, masculine nouns that do not represent living beings have the exact same form in the accusative case (used for direct objects) as they do in the nominative case.
Why is the word ga placed right after zubar instead of after the verb?
The word ga is an enclitic, which is a short, unstressed word. In Croatian, enclitics must strictly go in the second position of their clause. Since the second clause starts with the noun zubar, the enclitic ga must immediately follow it.
How do we know ga refers to the cavity and not something else?
ga is the short accusative pronoun for masculine nouns, meaning 'him' or 'it'. Because the word karijes is masculine in Croatian, we use ga to say the dentist fixes 'it'.
In English, we usually say we 'fill' a cavity. Is popraviti the standard verb for this in Croatian?
Yes! While popraviti generally means 'to fix' or 'to repair' (like a car or a broken appliance), it is the standard natural verb Croatians use for dental work. You will also frequently hear the phrase popraviti zub (to fix a tooth).