Breakdown of Znaš li nekoga iz Engleske?
li
question particle
znati
to know
iz
out of
netko
someone
Engleska
England
Questions & Answers about Znaš li nekoga iz Engleske?
Wait, Engleske ends in -e, just like a regular feminine noun in the genitive case. Why is Engleska considered an adjectival noun?
You are right that in the genitive case, both regular feminine nouns (like žena -> žene) and feminine adjectives end in -e. However, Engleska takes adjective endings in all cases. You really notice the difference in the dative and locative cases: 'in England' is u Engleskoj (taking the feminine adjective ending -oj), rather than taking a regular noun ending.
Shouldn't we use poznaješ instead of znaš when talking about knowing people?
Technically, yes. Traditional grammar teaches that znati is for facts and skills, while poznavati is for being acquainted with people and places. However, in everyday spoken Croatian, it is extremely common to hear znati used for people as well, especially in casual questions like Znaš li nekoga...?.
Why is the pronoun nekoga used here instead of netko?
Netko (someone/anyone) is the nominative form. In this sentence, the person you might know is the direct object of the verb znaš, so it must be in the accusative case. The accusative form of netko is nekoga.
Could I use the preposition od instead of iz here, since both can mean 'from'?
No, you must use iz. When talking about someone's geographical origin or the country they are from, Croatian always uses iz followed by the genitive case (iz Engleske). The preposition od is mostly used when receiving something from a person, or to indicate a starting point in time or a distance.
Learn Znaš li nekoga iz Engleske 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