Oni imaju malu mačku.

they

Breakdown of Oni imaju malu mačku.

• imati: to have
• mačka: cat
• mali: small

Questions & Answers about Oni imaju malu mačku.

What does Oni mean, and is it always necessary to include it in Croatian sentences?

Oni is the third-person plural pronoun “they.” In Croatian, subject pronouns are optional because the verb ending already tells you the person and number. You could simply say Imaju malu mačku (“They have a small cat”) and a native speaker would understand who “they” are from context or emphasis.

How do you get imaju from the infinitive imati, and what does it mean?

Imati means “to have.” To form the present tense for they, you drop the infinitive ending -ti and add -ju or -u depending on the stem. The full present tense conjugation of imati is:
 ja imam (I have)
 ti imaš (you have)
 on/ona/ono ima (he/she/it has)
 mi imamo (we have)
 vi imate (you pl/formal have)
 oni/one imaju (they have)
So imaju = “they have.”

Why is mačka changed to mačku in this sentence?

Because mačku is the accusative singular form of the noun mačka (female cat). In Croatian, the direct object of a verb takes the accusative case. Feminine nouns ending in -a change to -u in the accusative singular.

Why does the adjective mala become malu before mačku?

Adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. Here, mačku is feminine singular accusative, so the adjective mali/mala/malo also takes the feminine singular accusative form malu.

There are no words for “a” or “the” in the sentence. Why doesn’t Croatian use articles?

Croatian does not have indefinite (a/an) or definite (the) articles. Instead, context, word order, or additional words (like demonstratives) convey specificity. Oni imaju malu mačku can mean “They have a small cat” or “They have the small cat,” depending on what you already know in the conversation.

Can you omit Oni if you want to say “We have a small cat”?

No—Oni means “they.” To say “we have a small cat,” use Mi imamo malu mačku or simply Imamo malu mačku. Here mi is “we,” matching the verb ending -mo.

How do you pronounce the letter č in mačku?

The letter č is pronounced like the English “ch” in “church.” So mačku sounds roughly like “MAH-chkoo.”

What’s the difference between oni and one for “they”?

• Oni is the masculine‐personal form of “they.” Use it for groups of men or mixed‐gender groups.
• One is the feminine form of “they,” used exclusively for groups of women.
  Example:
   Oni imaju malu mačku. (A group of men or mixed group has a small cat.)
   One imaju malu mačku. (A group of women has a small cat.)