Breakdown of Tek što je revija počela, većina modela je pobjegla.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
početi
to begin
većina
majority
model
model
pobjeći
to run away
tek što
no sooner / just as
revija
fashion show
Questions & Answers about Tek što je revija počela, većina modela je pobjegla.
How does tek što give us the meaning of "just as"?
The phrase tek što paired with the past tense (here, je počela) is a set structure used to express immediate anteriority. It literally translates to something close to "only what," but it functions just like "no sooner," "barely," or "just as" in English, showing that the models ran away the very second the show started.
Why is the verb je pobjegla in the feminine singular when it refers to multiple models?
The verb must agree with the grammatical head of the subject phrase. Here, the main subject is većina (the majority), which is a feminine singular noun. Therefore, the verb takes the feminine singular form je pobjegla, ignoring the plural noun that modifies it.
Why is the word for models written as modela?
It is in the genitive plural case. Words that express quantity or amounts, like većina, require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive. This works just like using "of" in the English phrase "majority of models".
What dictates the placement of the enclitic je in both halves of this sentence?
In the first clause, the phrase tek što occupies the first position, so the enclitic verb je drops into the second position right after it. In the main clause, the entire noun phrase većina modela counts as a single unit occupying the first position, meaning je naturally slots in immediately after it.
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