Ne, nisam učitelj.

Breakdown of Ne, nisam učitelj.

biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ne
no, not
učitelj
teacher

Questions & Answers about Ne, nisam učitelj.

Why is there no word for "I" in this sentence?
In Croatian, the word for "I" (ja) is usually dropped. The verb nisam (I am not) already tells us exactly who is being talked about. You could say Ne, ja nisam učitelj, but leaving ja out sounds much more natural.
Is nisam just the word ne combined with sam?
Exactly! In Croatian, the verb "to be" has special negative forms. Instead of saying ne sam (not am), the two words blend together into the single word nisam.
If I want to ask someone "Are you a teacher?", how do I use the "je li" structure for that?
To ask "Are you...?", you use the "you" form of the verb "to be" (jesi) with li to make Jesi li ti učitelj?. The person then answers with Jesam (I am) or, like in this sentence, Ne, nisam (No, I am not).
Would a female speaker say this sentence exactly the same way?
Almost, but the word for teacher would change. Učitelj is the masculine form for a male teacher. A woman answering this would say Ne, nisam učiteljica.

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