Breakdown of Ako desni krvare, morate kupiti novu četkicu.
nov
new
morati
must
kupiti
to buy (perfective)
ako
if
desni
gums
krvariti
to bleed
četkica
toothbrush
Questions & Answers about Ako desni krvare, morate kupiti novu četkicu.
Doesn't desni usually mean right? How does it function here?
You are probably used to desni as the masculine adjective for right (like in desni zavoj, right turn). However, it is also the noun for gums in the mouth. You have to rely on context—since directions don't bleed (krvare), it clearly means gums here!
Why does the verb krvare take the plural form?
Because desni (gums) is a feminine plural noun. It belongs to the i-declension group (like the feminine nouns noć or stvar) but is almost always used in the plural. Because the subject is plural, the verb krvariti (to bleed) must take the 3rd-person plural form krvare.
Why use the infinitive kupiti directly after morate instead of da kupite?
In standard Croatian, modal verbs like morati (to have to) are followed directly by the infinitive (kupiti). While you might hear da plus the present tense (morate da kupite) in some regional dialects or in Serbian, standard Croatian strongly prefers combining the modal directly with the infinitive.
Why does the sentence use četkicu instead of the base word četku?
Četkicu is the accusative form of četkica, which is the diminutive of četka (brush). In Croatian, a toothbrush is almost exclusively called a četkica (or fully, četkica za zube) due to its small size, whereas četka is reserved for larger brushes like hairbrushes or scrubbing brushes.
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