Word
Ova je telad gladna i mora ući u štalu.
Meaning
These calves are hungry and must enter the barn.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ova je telad gladna i mora ući u štalu.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
i
and (additive)
gladan
hungry
Questions & Answers about Ova je telad gladna i mora ući u štalu.
Why are the words for 'these' (ova) and 'hungry' (gladna) in the feminine singular if there are multiple calves?
The noun telad (calves) is a collective noun ending in -ad. In Croatian, these collective nouns are grammatically feminine singular, despite referring to a plural group of animals. Because of this, any adjectives describing the group, like ova and gladna, must also take the feminine singular form.
Why does the sentence use the singular verbs je and mora instead of plural verbs?
Because telad acts as a singular noun grammatically, it requires 3rd person singular verbs. Think of the grammar as saying 'This collective-group-of-calves is hungry and must enter.'
Why is the enclitic je placed between ova and telad?
Enclitics like je strictly require the second position in a sentence. The first word is Ova, so je jumps in immediately after it, splitting the noun phrase Ova telad to fulfill its positional rule.
Why does the sentence use u štalu instead of u štali?