Breakdown of Probudio se noću i počeo povraćati.
i
and (additive)
početi
to begin
probuditi se
to wake up
noću
at night
povraćati
to vomit
Questions & Answers about Probudio se noću i počeo povraćati.
Why must povraćati be in the imperfective aspect here?
In Croatian, verbs that express the beginning, continuation, or end of an action (like početi for starting, nastaviti for continuing, or prestati for stopping) must always be followed by an imperfective verb. Since the subject is starting the ongoing process of vomiting, the imperfective povraćati is used here instead of its perfective counterpart povratiti.
What case is noću and why is there no preposition used with it?
The word noću is an old instrumental case form of the noun noć (night) that has evolved into a fixed adverb meaning at night. While you could use prepositional phrases like u noći or po noći, using the standalone adverb noću is the most natural and common way to describe an event happening during nighttime hours.
Since both verbs are in the past tense, where is the auxiliary verb je?
The auxiliary verb je is intentionally dropped here. In the third-person singular past tense, when the reflexive pronoun se is present (as in probudio se), the auxiliary je is generally omitted because probudio se je sounds clunky to native speakers. Because both actions share the same subject, this omission carries over, so we do not need to add je before počeo either.
Learn Probudio se noću i počeo povraćati 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