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Questions & Answers about Ne govore puno.
How do we get the 'they' form govore from the dictionary verb?
The dictionary form is govoriti (to speak), which is a regular -iti verb. To make the 'they' form in the present tense, we drop the -iti to get the base (govor-) and add -e. This gives us govore.
Why isn't there a word for 'they' in the sentence?
Croatian often drops pronouns like oni (they) because the verb ending already tells us who is acting. The -e ending on govore clearly means 'they', so saying oni ne govore is only needed if you really want to emphasize they (as opposed to someone else).
How does negation work in this sentence compared to English?
In English, we need a helper verb to say 'do not speak'. In Croatian, you simply put the word ne directly before the main verb. It is written as a separate word: ne govore.
Could I use mnogo instead of puno here?
Yes, you can! Both puno and mnogo mean 'a lot' or 'much'. In everyday spoken Croatian, puno is very common, but Ne govore mnogo is also perfectly correct and means exactly the same thing.