Vojnik vidi metu.

to see

Breakdown of Vojnik vidi metu.

• vojnik: a soldier
• meta: a target (object aimed at)

Questions & Answers about Vojnik vidi metu.

Why is meta written as metu here?

Because metu is the accusative singular form of meta.

In this sentence, meta is the direct object: it is the thing being seen. Croatian changes noun endings depending on their role in the sentence, and direct objects often go into the accusative case.

So:

• meta = nominative singular, the basic dictionary form
• metu = accusative singular

This is very common in Croatian. English usually keeps the noun the same, but Croatian often changes its ending.

How do I know that vojnik is the subject and metu is the object?

You know from the case endings.

• vojnik is in the nominative, which is the usual case for the subject
• metu is in the accusative, which is the usual case for the direct object

So even if you did not know the meaning, the grammar tells you that vojnik is the one doing the action, and metu is the thing affected by it.

That is one big difference from English: Croatian relies much more on case endings than on word order.

Why does vojnik not change form?