Breakdown of Ovaj grad je velik, a ovo selo je novo.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
a
and / but
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
grad
city
velik
big
nov
new
selo
village
Questions & Answers about Ovaj grad je velik, a ovo selo je novo.
Why is it ovaj grad but ovo selo? Don't both mean 'this'?
Yes, they both mean 'this,' but in Croatian, demonstrative pronouns have to match the gender of the noun they point to. Grad (city) is a masculine noun, so it uses the masculine form ovaj. Selo (village) ends in -o, making it a neuter noun, so it uses the neuter form ovo.
Why does velik end in a consonant, but novo ends in -o?
Just like the word for 'this', adjectives must match the noun's gender. Because grad is masculine, its adjective velik (big) takes the masculine form, which usually ends in a consonant. Selo is neuter, so its adjective novo (new) takes the neuter ending -o.
Why is the word a used for 'and' here instead of i?
In Croatian, i simply adds things together (like 'apples and oranges'). The word a is used to show a slight contrast or comparison between two different things, often translating to 'and', 'but', or 'while'. Here, you are comparing the city to the village, so a is the most natural fit.
Why are all these words in the nominative case?
The nominative case is the 'dictionary form' of a word, used for the subject of a sentence (the thing doing the action or being described). Here, ovaj grad and ovo selo are the subjects. Because they are the subjects, the nouns and all the words describing them (ovaj, velik, ovo, novo) stay in the nominative.
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