Breakdown of Moramo dodijeliti ovaj zadatak Ines.
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
morati
must
zadatak
task (m)
dodijeliti
to assign
Ines
Ines
Questions & Answers about Moramo dodijeliti ovaj zadatak Ines.
Why doesn't the name Ines change its ending, given that she is the indirect object receiving the task?
Normally, an indirect object takes the dative case. However, female names ending in a consonant like Ines, Nives, or Karmen are completely indeclinable in Croatian. They never change their form, no matter what grammatical case the sentence requires.
Since Ines doesn't change form, could we change the word order and put her before ovaj zadatak?
Yes, you could easily say Moramo dodijeliti Ines ovaj zadatak. Even without a case ending on the name, the context and the meaning of the verb dodijeliti (to assign) make it completely clear that she is the recipient and the task is the direct object.
As a quick refresher, why is the direct object ovaj zadatak instead of taking an -a ending?
Because zadatak (task) is an inanimate masculine noun. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative case used for direct objects is identical to the nominative case. You only add the -a ending (which looks like the genitive case) for living masculine nouns, like people or animals.
Why do we use the perfective verb dodijeliti here instead of its imperfective pair dodjeljivati?
The perfective verb dodijeliti is used here because you are assigning this specific task once, as a single, completed action. If you used the imperfective dodjeljivati, it would imply assigning tasks repeatedly, generally, or as an ongoing habit.
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