Learn Hardcore Croatian: Luka ima psa.

ima is the third person singular present tense form of the verb imati, which means “to have.” In English you’d translate Luka ima as “Luka has.”

Why is the noun pas changed to psa here?

Because psa is the accusative singular form of pas (“dog”). In Croatian, the direct object of a verb takes the accusative case, and masculine animate nouns ending in –s change to –a.

What case is psa, and how do you know it’s accusative and not something else?

psa is in the accusative singular. You know it’s accusative (direct object) because it follows the verb ima (“has”) and answers the question “whom/what does he have?” Note that for masculine animate nouns, the accusative singular form looks the same as the genitive singular, but here its role is clearly as a direct object.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before psa?

Croatian does not use articles like “a,” “an,” or “the.” Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context, so “Luka ima psa” simply means “Luka has a dog” or “Luka has the dog,” depending on what you want to imply.

How would you ask “Does Luka have a dog?” in Croatian?

You invert the verb and subject (or add a question intonation/maybe a question word), giving Ima li Luka psa? Literally: “Has-he Luka a-dog?”

How do you make the sentence negative, as in “Luka doesn’t have a dog”?

You replace ima with the negative form nema (literally “not-has”): Luka nema psa.

Can you change the word order, for example saying Psa ima Luka?

Yes, Croatian has fairly free word order for emphasis or style. Psa ima Luka would emphasize psa (“the dog”) – something like “It’s the dog that Luka has.” The neutral, unmarked order is Subject-Verb-Object: Luka ima psa.

How would you say “Luka has two dogs”?

Use the numeral dva (two) plus the genitive plural of pas, which is pasa: Luka ima dva psa can be heard casually, but standard is Luka ima dva psa or more precisely Luka ima dva psa (since numerals 2–4 often take the nominative/accusative plural form for masculine animate, though colloquial usage varies) or Luka ima dva psa. For “more than two,” you’d use više pasa: Luka ima više pasa (“Luka has more dogs”).