Breakdown of Ona vjerojatno žmirka zato što ne vidi slova.
ona
she
ne
no, not
vidjeti
to see
zato što
because
vjerojatno
probably
žmirkati
to squint
slovo
letter (of the alphabet)
Questions & Answers about Ona vjerojatno žmirka zato što ne vidi slova.
Why is žmirka used here instead of žmiri?
Žmirkati (which gives us žmirka) means to squint, blink repeatedly, or half-close your eyes, usually to see better or react to light. Žmiriti, on the other hand, means to keep your eyes completely closed. Since she is trying to read the letters, she is squinting, not keeping her eyes shut.
Could we use jer instead of zato što in this sentence?
Yes, you can. Both jer and zato što translate to the English word because. Zato što is often used when you want to put a slightly stronger emphasis on the specific reason or cause (the fact that she cannot see the letters). Jer would make the sentence feel a bit more casual, but the core meaning remains exactly the same.
The word slova ends in -a. Is it a feminine singular noun here?
No, slova is actually the neuter plural form of the noun slovo (meaning letter or character). Because it is the direct object of the verb vidi, it is in the accusative case. For neuter nouns, the accusative plural is identical to the nominative plural, which happens to end in -a.
Since the verb is negated (ne vidi), shouldn't the object be in the genitive case?
In some Slavic languages, negated verbs strictly require the genitive case. In modern Croatian, however, this genitive of negation is largely optional and often sounds archaic or highly formal in everyday speech. Using the standard accusative case, as seen here with slova, is completely natural and correct for a B2 speaker to use.
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