General vodi vojnika.

The general leads the soldier.

Breakdown of General vodi vojnika.

• voditi: to lead
• general: a general (military officer)
• vojnik: a soldier

Questions & Answers about General vodi vojnika.

How do I know who is doing the action in General vodi vojnika?

You know it from the case endings, not mainly from word order.

• General is in the nominative case, so it is the subject.
• vojnika is in the accusative case, so it is the direct object.

So the sentence means that the general is leading the soldier, not the other way around.

In Croatian, case endings often tell you who does what to whom more clearly than English word order does.

Why is it vojnika and not vojnik?

Because vojnika is the accusative singular form of vojnik (soldier).

For many masculine animate nouns in Croatian:

• nominative singular: vojnik
• accusative singular: vojnika

Since the soldier is the direct object of vodi, Croatian uses the accusative form.

Why does general stay the same?