Breakdown of U usporedbi s prošlim tjednom, danas je toplije.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
danas
today
topao
warm
tjedan
week
prošli
last / past
u usporedbi s
compared with (+ instrumental)
Questions & Answers about U usporedbi s prošlim tjednom, danas je toplije.
Why do we use the instrumental case in the phrase s prošlim tjednom?
The noun usporedba means comparison, and it pairs with the preposition s (with) to form u usporedbi s (compared with). The preposition s always requires the instrumental case.
How exactly did prošli tjedan change to become prošlim tjednom?
To form the instrumental case, the masculine adjective prošli takes the -im ending, and the masculine noun tjedan takes the -om ending. Notice that the fleeting a in tjedan drops out, changing the stem to tjedn- before adding the ending.
Why does toplije end in -e here? Shouldn't an adjective match a noun?
When describing general conditions or the weather, like saying it is warmer, Croatian uses an impersonal construction. Because there is no specific noun to agree with, it defaults to the neuter singular form of the comparative adjective, which is toplije.
Could I express this using the standard comparative word od (than)?
Yes, you can use od followed by the genitive case. A more direct way to express this is Danas je toplije od prošlog tjedna (Today is warmer than last week). The phrase u usporedbi s just gives you a slightly more formal alternative, much like compared to in English.
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