Breakdown of Čekam te sam ispred cvjećarnice.
čekati
to wait for
te
you (singular, accusative clitic)
ispred
in front of
sam
alone
cvjećarnica
florist shop
Questions & Answers about Čekam te sam ispred cvjećarnice.
Is sam acting as the auxiliary verb 'am' in this sentence?
No, it is actually the masculine adjective for 'alone' or 'by myself'. Because the sentence is in the present tense (Čekam already means 'I am waiting'), an auxiliary verb isn't used here. If a female speaker were saying this, she would use the feminine form and say Čekam te sama.
Why is the pronoun te placed right after Čekam instead of after sam?
The word te (you) is an enclitic, which means it has no accent of its own and must strictly sit in the second logical position of the sentence. Since Čekam takes the first position, te is forced to go immediately after it, before sam.
Why does the word for florist shop (cvjećarnica) end in -e here?
It is in the genitive case. The spatial preposition ispred (in front of) always requires the genitive case for the noun that follows it. For regular feminine nouns ending in -a, the genitive singular ending changes to -e.
Since cvjećarnice is also the plural form, could this sentence mean 'in front of the florist shops'?
No, because the genitive plural of cvjećarnica is actually cvjećarnica (pronounced with a lengthened final a). Even though cvjećarnice is the nominative plural form, the preposition ispred forces the genitive case, so we know grammatically that this must be the genitive singular.
Learn Čekam te sam ispred cvjećarnice 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