Breakdown of Jesu li studenti zauzeti?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
student
student
li
question particle
zauzet
busy
Questions & Answers about Jesu li studenti zauzeti?
Why does this question start with Jesu instead of the normal short form su?
To ask a yes/no question using the question word li, you must use the full (emphatic) form of the verb "to be" at the very beginning of the sentence. The full form for "they are" is jesu. You cannot use the short form su here because short verb forms are never allowed to be the first word in a Croatian sentence.
Does the question word li always come right after the verb?
Yes, in this type of question structure, the tiny question word li must come immediately after the full verb. You will always see the pairing Jesu li, Jesi li, Jesmo li, etc. You cannot separate them by putting other words in between.
Is there another way to ask this question using the short form su?
Why does the word for busy, zauzeti, end with an -i?
In Croatian, adjectives have to match the noun they describe in gender and number. Because studenti (students) is a masculine plural noun, the base adjective zauzet (busy) must take the masculine plural ending -i, becoming zauzeti.
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