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Questions & Answers about Dugujem novac.
What is dugujem exactly?
Dugujem is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb dugovati, which means to owe.
So:
- dugovati = to owe
- dugujem = I owe
Croatian often builds present-tense forms from the verb stem in ways that do not look exactly like the infinitive, so it is normal that dugovati becomes dugujem.
Why is there no word for I in the sentence?
Because Croatian usually drops the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb ending.
In dugujem, the ending -em already shows that the subject is I.
So:
- Dugujem novac. = I owe money.
- Ja dugujem novac. = I owe money.
Both are correct, but ja is often unnecessary unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.
What case is novac in here?