Breakdown of Nemoj se bojati, šuma je bezopasna.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
bojati se
to be afraid
nemoj
do not (sg., pl. nemojte)
šuma
forest
bezopasan
harmless
Questions & Answers about Nemoj se bojati, šuma je bezopasna.
Why does the prefix in bezopasna stay as bez- instead of changing to bes- or beš-?
The prefix bez- only undergoes voice assimilation (changing to bes- or beš-) when it meets certain voiceless consonants like p, t, k, s, or š. Here, it attaches to opasna, which starts with the vowel o. Before vowels and voiced consonants, the prefix remains bez-.
What is the base word inside bezopasna?
It is built from the adjective opasan (dangerous) or the noun opasnost (danger). Adding the prefix bez- (without) gives it the meaning of harmless. Because it describes the feminine noun šuma, it takes the feminine ending to become bezopasna.
Why do we use nemoj instead of just ne to say do not?
In Croatian, negative commands are usually formed with the helper verb nemoj (or nemojte for plural/formal) followed by the infinitive of the action verb. If you used ne and the present tense, like ne bojiš se, it would just be a statement meaning you are not afraid, not a command.
Why is the word se included after nemoj?
The verb for to be afraid is bojati se, which is a strictly reflexive verb. It always requires the reflexive pronoun se to be present, even when forming a negative command like nemoj se bojati.
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