Breakdown of Mi ne čujemo dobro jer smo stari.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
dobro
well
mi
we
star
old
ne
no, not
jer
because
čuti
to hear
Questions & Answers about Mi ne čujemo dobro jer smo stari.
How do we make the verb negative in this sentence?
To make a verb negative in Croatian, you simply put the word ne directly in front of it. Unlike English, which uses "do not" or "does not", Croatian just uses ne as a separate word before most regular verbs, giving us ne čujemo (we do not hear).
Do we have to say Mi at the beginning of the sentence?
No, you could just say Ne čujemo dobro jer smo stari because the ending of the verb (-mo) already tells us that "we" are the ones doing the action. Including Mi just adds a bit of emphasis.
The word dobro usually means "good". Why does it mean "well" here?
In Croatian, the neuter singular form of an adjective (like dobro) is very often used as an adverb to describe how an action is done. So while it means "good" when describing a neuter noun, here it describes the verb čujemo, meaning "well".
Why does the word for old end in -i (stari)?
Adjectives have to match the noun or pronoun they describe. Since Mi (we) is plural, the adjective must also be in the plural form. The -i ending on stari is the plural form, used for a group of males or a mixed group of males and females.
Why is smo placed right after jer?
The word smo (are) is a "clitic", which is a short, unstressed word that usually wants to be in the second position of a sentence or clause. Here, the conjunction jer (because) starts a new clause, so smo naturally steps into the second spot right after it.
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