Learn Croatian: Gdje je učitelj? Ne znam. - Where is the teacher? I do not know.

Gdje je učitelj? Ne znam.

Where is the teacher? I do not know.

Breakdown of Gdje je učitelj? Ne znam.

Questions & Answers about Gdje je učitelj? Ne znam.

How do we get znam from the dictionary verb znati?

Znati (to know) is a regular -ati verb. To make the present tense for 'I', you drop the -ti from the end to find the base (zna-) and add the ending for 'I', which is -m. That gives us znam.

Why is the word for 'I' missing in the second sentence?

In Croatian, the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. Because znam ends in -m, it can only mean 'I know'. You do not need to add the pronoun ja (I) unless you really want to emphasize it.

Why are ne and znam written as two separate words?

To make a regular verb negative in Croatian, you simply put the word ne in front of it, separated by a space. You might remember that the verb 'to be' combines with ne into one word (like nisam for 'I am not'), but regular verbs like znati keep them separate: ne znam.

Does učitelj mean a male or a female teacher?

Učitelj refers specifically to a male teacher, which we can usually guess because it ends in a consonant. If you were asking about a female teacher, you would add the feminine ending to make učiteljica.