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Questions & Answers about Stotina ljudi čeka.
Why is the verb čeka singular? Shouldn’t it be plural because there are many people?
In this sentence, the grammatical subject is stotina = a hundred.
Stotina is a singular feminine noun, so the verb agrees with it in the singular:
- Stotina ljudi čeka. = A hundred people are waiting.
Even though the meaning involves many people, Croatian often makes the verb agree with the quantity word rather than with the people being counted.
You can see this more clearly in the past tense:
- Stotina ljudi je čekala.
Here čekala is feminine singular, matching stotina.
What case is ljudi here?
Here ljudi is in the genitive plural.
That is because stotina behaves like a quantity noun, and the noun after it normally goes in the genitive:
- stotina ljudi = a hundred people
- literally, something like a hundred of people
A useful thing to know is that ljudi has the same form in both:
- nominative plural
- genitive plural
So in this sentence, the form looks the same, but its function is genitive plural.
What exactly does stotina mean? Is it the same as sto?