Questions & Answers about Moram li dresirati psa u parku?
Why do we use dresirati here instead of trenirati or vježbati?
In Croatian, dresirati is used specifically for training animals, like teaching a dog obedience commands. If you used trenirati, it would sound like the dog is an athlete training for a sport, and vježbati means to exercise or practice.
Why is the word for dog psa instead of pas here?
Psa is the accusative form of pas, used here because the dog is the direct object of the verb dresirati. Because a dog is animate (a living being), its masculine accusative form matches its genitive form. This also triggers the 'fleeting a' rule, where the 'a' in pas disappears when adding the suffix, making it psa.
Could I start this sentence with Da li moram instead of Moram li?
Why is u parku in the locative case rather than the accusative case?
The preposition u takes the locative case when indicating a static location where an action takes place (answering the question 'where?'). It only takes the accusative case when showing movement towards a destination (answering 'where to?'). Since you are already in the park while training the dog, the locative is used.