Questions & Answers about Nemamo sladak kolač.
Why doesn't the noun kolač change its ending here even though it is the object of the sentence?
The verb nemati (to not have) takes a direct object in the accusative case. However, for masculine inanimate nouns (objects that are not alive, like a cake), the accusative form is exactly the same as the basic nominative (dictionary) form. That is why kolač doesn't change.
Why doesn't the adjective sladak (sweet) get a new ending to match the accusative case?
Adjectives always copy the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. Because kolač is a masculine inanimate noun in the accusative case, the adjective also uses the masculine inanimate accusative form. Just like the noun, this specific form looks identical to the basic dictionary form, so no extra endings are added.
Why is nemamo written as a single word? Shouldn't it be ne imamo?
If the adjective is sladak, why do I sometimes see it spelled as slatka?
The dictionary form of this adjective is sladak. When you add endings for other genders (like the feminine -a), the last "a" in the root drops out, leaving "sladk-a". Because the sound combination "dk" is hard to say, the "d" changes to a "t", resulting in slatka. You don't see this happen in our sentence because the masculine inanimate accusative form doesn't add any extra endings at the end!
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