Breakdown of Kad bi informatičar imao vremena, pomogao bi upravitelju.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
imati
to have
pomoći
to help
vrijeme
time
kad
if (hypothetical, + conditional)
informatičar
IT specialist
upravitelj
manager
Questions & Answers about Kad bi informatičar imao vremena, pomogao bi upravitelju.
How is the word informatičar formed, and is -ar a common suffix?
Yes, -ar is a very common suffix used to create nouns for professions or people associated with a specific field. Here, it is added to the base of informatika (computer science) to mean an IT specialist. You will also see it in words like novinar (journalist) and kuhar (cook).
The word upravitelju uses the suffix -telj. What does this suffix usually indicate?
The suffix -telj is highly productive for creating agent nouns, which are words for people who perform a specific action. They are usually derived from verbs. Upravitelj (manager) comes from the verb upravljati (to manage). In this sentence, it takes the dative case ending -u because the verb pomoći (to help) requires its object to be in the dative case.
Why do we use Kad bi here instead of Ako for the word if?
In Croatian, kad bi is used for unreal or hypothetical conditions, translating to 'If he had time (but he does not).' It is paired with the active past participle, which is imao here. If this were a highly likely, real condition, you would use ako with the present tense: Ako informatičar ima vremena (If the IT specialist has time).
Why is it vremena instead of just vrijeme?
Vremena is the genitive case of vrijeme. It is very common to use the partitive genitive with the verb imati (to have) for uncountable or abstract nouns, essentially meaning 'some time.' Additionally, as a quick refresher, vrijeme is an irregular neuter noun that inserts an -en- before all of its oblique case endings.
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