Breakdown of Ovaj restoran ima odličnog baristu.
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
restoran
restaurant
imati
to have
odličan
excellent
barista
barista
Questions & Answers about Ovaj restoran ima odličnog baristu.
Why do the adjective and noun endings seem to mismatch in odličnog baristu?
Barista is a masculine noun, but because it ends in -a, it declines using the regular feminine noun pattern. That is why it becomes baristu in the accusative case. However, adjectives describing it must follow its natural masculine gender, which is why the adjective gets a masculine ending.
Why does the adjective use the -og ending here instead of just odličan?
Because a barista is a living person, the adjective must use the masculine animate accusative ending -og. If the masculine noun were an inanimate object, the adjective would match the nominative form (for example, Ima odličan restoran - It has an excellent restaurant).
What happened to the a from the dictionary form odličan?
The adjective odličan contains a "fleeting a" (nepostojano a). When you add a suffix that starts with a vowel, like the -og ending, that final a drops out. This is why it becomes odličnog rather than "odličanog".
Are there other words that follow this mixed masculine/feminine grammar pattern?
Yes, this mixed pattern applies to many male roles, titles, or professions that end in -a. You will see the exact same behavior with common words like kolega (colleague), vođa (leader), and tata (dad). For example, "an excellent dad" in the accusative case is odličnog tatu.
Learn Ovaj restoran ima odličnog baristu 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