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Questions & Answers about Oni su prijatelji.
Why does the word for friend end in -i here?
The singular word for a male friend is prijatelj. Because it is a regular masculine noun, it takes the ending -i in the plural when it is the subject of the sentence. This gives us prijatelji.
Would I still use Oni if the group of friends includes both men and women?
Yes. Oni is the masculine plural for 'they', but it is also used as the default for any mixed-gender group. You only use the feminine plural One if every single person in the group is female.
What does su do in this sentence?
su is the short, everyday word for 'are' when talking about 'them'. It is a form of the verb biti (to be) and matches our plural subject Oni.
I see the letters lj in prijatelji. Are those two separate sounds?
No, lj is actually a single letter in the Croatian alphabet! It is pronounced as one smooth sound, very similar to the 'lli' in the English word 'million'.