Breakdown of Ravnopravnost žena i muškaraca je važna.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
žena
woman
i
and (additive)
važan
important
muškarac
man
ravnopravnost
equality (of rights), equal rights
Questions & Answers about Ravnopravnost žena i muškaraca je važna.
The English translation uses 'between', but there is no word like između in the Croatian sentence. Why?
In Croatian, abstract relationships like this are often expressed simply using the genitive case. Ravnopravnost žena i muškaraca literally translates to 'the equality of women and of men'. While you could technically say između žena i muškaraca, using the genitive directly is much more common and sounds more natural in this context.
Why does the adjective važna take a feminine ending?
It must agree with the subject of the sentence, ravnopravnost. In Croatian, almost all abstract nouns ending in the suffix -ost (such as budućnost or mogućnost) are feminine nouns, so the adjective requires the feminine nominative ending.
Wait, isn't žena the nominative singular form for 'woman'? How do we know it means 'of women' here?
It looks identical in writing, but this is the genitive plural form. In spoken Croatian, the genitive plural žena is pronounced with a long, drawn-out 'a' at the end, whereas the nominative singular has a short 'a'. Here, the context—especially being paired with the obvious genitive plural muškaraca—makes it entirely clear it means 'of women'.
How is the form muškaraca constructed?
This is the genitive plural of muškarac. To avoid a difficult consonant cluster at the end of the word, Croatian inserts a 'fleeting a' into the final syllable for the genitive plural. This means the genitive singular is muškarca (of a man), but the genitive plural expands to muškaraca (of men).
How is the word ravnopravnost formed?
It is a compound word that perfectly illustrates Croatian word-building. It combines ravno (flat or equal) with pravo (right or law), and adds the suffix -ost which is used to create abstract nouns. Literally, it translates to 'equal-rights-ness'.
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