Breakdown of Nemam ni flaster ni gazu za ogrebotinu.
nemati
to not have
ni
neither, nor
za
for (+ accusative)
flaster
plaster
ogrebotina
scratch
gaza
gauze
Questions & Answers about Nemam ni flaster ni gazu za ogrebotinu.
Why does the sentence use the negative verb nemam when the English translation says "I have"?
Croatian requires double negation. When you use the conjunction ni... ni... (neither... nor...), the main verb of the sentence must also be negative. You are literally saying "I do not have neither a plaster nor gauze."
I learned that the verb nemati (not to have) takes the genitive case. Why are the objects here in the accusative?
While nemati often triggers the genitive of negation, especially for uncountable or abstract nouns (like nemam vremena), modern spoken Croatian frequently uses the accusative for specific, physical objects. Saying ni flastera ni gaze in the genitive would also be correct, but the accusative used here is very common and natural.
Why does flaster look like a nominative word while gazu clearly has an accusative ending?
Both words are actually in the accusative case because they are direct objects. Gaza is a feminine noun, so its ending changes to -u. However, flaster is a masculine inanimate noun, and the accusative form of masculine inanimate nouns is identical to their nominative form.
Why is the word for scratch (ogrebotina) in the accusative case (ogrebotinu) here?
The preposition za takes the accusative case when it means "for" in the sense of purpose, target, or intended use. Since you are looking for an item specifically meant for the scratch, za triggers the accusative.
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