Breakdown of Svi trebaju imati pravo na obrazovanje.
imati
to have
pravo
right (a right; being right)
trebati
to need / should (ought to)
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
sav
all (of a whole) / everyone, all (people) / everything
obrazovanje
education
Questions & Answers about Svi trebaju imati pravo na obrazovanje.
English says 'everyone should' with a singular verb, but Croatian uses trebaju. Why is it plural?
In Croatian, the word for 'everyone' is svi, which literally translates to 'all' and is grammatically plural. Because of this, it always takes a plural verb, unlike English where 'everyone' is singular.
I thought the verb trebati was supposed to be impersonal (always treba) when used with another verb. Is trebaju imati correct?
In strict standard Croatian, when trebati means 'should' and is followed by another verb, it is often used in the conditional (Svi bi trebali imati). However, using it as a regular personal verb that agrees with the subject (Svi trebaju imati) is incredibly common in everyday speech and widely accepted in practice.
Why do we use the preposition na in the phrase pravo na obrazovanje?
The noun pravo (meaning 'right' or 'entitlement') almost always pairs with the preposition na followed by the accusative case to express what you have a right to. While English says 'right to', Croatian uses na.
What case is the word obrazovanje here?
It is in the accusative case, triggered by the preposition na. Because obrazovanje is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative dictionary form.
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