Breakdown of Kuhar mi je rekao da nasjeckam povrće.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ja
I
povrće
vegetables
kuhar
cook
reći
to tell
da
that (conjunction)
nasjeckati
to chop
Questions & Answers about Kuhar mi je rekao da nasjeckam povrće.
Why is it da nasjeckam instead of the infinitive nasjeckati?
In English, we use the infinitive for indirect commands like "told me to chop". In Croatian, because the person giving the order (the chef) is different from the person doing the action (me), you must use a da clause with the present tense. If the subjects were the same (e.g., "The chef decided to chop"), you could use the infinitive.
Why is the clitic order mi je instead of je mi?
Croatian clitic order usually puts the verbal auxiliary (sam, si, etc.) before pronoun clitics. However, the third-person singular auxiliary je is the big exception: it always drops to the very end of the clitic cluster. That is why the dative pronoun mi comes first.
Why use the prefix na- in nasjeckam instead of just sjeckam?
Nasjeckati is the perfective version of the verb sjeckati (to chop). The chef wants the action completed so the vegetables are fully chopped up, requiring the perfective aspect. If he were talking about the ongoing process of chopping, you would use the imperfective sjeckati.
Povrće translates to "vegetables" (plural), but is the Croatian word plural?
No, povrće is a collective noun, which means it is grammatically a neuter singular word, even though it refers to multiple vegetables. You will see this same pattern with other collective nouns ending in -će, such as voće (fruit) and drveće (trees).
Learn Kuhar mi je rekao da nasjeckam povrće and more in Croatian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free