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Breakdown of Posjetit ćemo i susjeda koji je sam kod kuće.
biti
to be
htjeti
will
i
also
kod
at
kuća
home
sam
alone
susjed
neighbor
koji
who
posjetiti
to visit
Questions & Answers about Posjetit ćemo i susjeda koji je sam kod kuće.
Why is it Posjetit ćemo and not Posjetiti ćemo?
In Croatian Future I, if the auxiliary (ću/ćeš/će/ćemo/ćete/će, from htjeti) follows the verb, the infinitive drops its final -i: posjetit ćemo. If the auxiliary comes first, the infinitive keeps -i: Mi ćemo posjetiti... The form Posjetiti ćemo is considered incorrect in standard Croatian.
Where can the auxiliary ćemo go in this sentence?
Two common patterns are both correct:
- Verb first: Posjetit ćemo i susjeda...
- Auxiliary first (often with an explicit subject): Mi ćemo posjetiti i susjeda... The clitic ćemo normally occupies the second position in the clause, so it comes right after the first stressed element (the verb in the first version, or an adverb/subject if you start with one).
Does i mean “and” or “also” here?
Here i is an additive particle meaning “also/too,” focusing the noun that follows: i susjeda = “the neighbor, too.” If it meant “and,” you’d expect another coordinated item. You can also use također for “also.”
Why is it susjeda and not susjed?
The verb posjetiti takes a direct object in the accusative. For masculine animate nouns like susjed (“neighbor”), the accusative singular equals the genitive singular: vidim susjeda. So susjeda here is the correct accusative singular of a male neighbor.
How would it change if the neighbor were female?
For a female neighbor (susjeda, fem.), the accusative is susjedu, and the agreement in the relative clause changes to feminine:
- Posjetit ćemo i susjedu koja je sama kod kuće.
How do we know the neighbor is male in the original sentence?
The relative pronoun koji (masculine singular nominative) and the adjective sam (masculine singular) show masculine agreement. If it were a female neighbor, you’d see koja je sama.
Can I use također instead of i?
Yes. Common options:
- Također ćemo posjetiti susjeda koji je sam kod kuće.
- Posjetit ćemo susjeda također (possible, but less neutral than placing također earlier).
Why is it koji, not koga?
In the relative clause, the neighbor is the subject of je sam, so you need the nominative koji. You’d use an oblique case if the pronoun had a different function, e.g. object: Posjetit ćemo susjeda kojeg (koga) smo upoznali jučer.
What does kod kuće literally mean, and what case is kuće?
Kod kuće literally “at (the place of) home” is the standard way to say “at home.” Kod governs the genitive, so kuće is genitive singular of kuća.
Is u kući the same as kod kuće?
Not exactly. Kod kuće means “at home” (one’s own place). U kući means “in the house” (inside a house as a physical building), not necessarily one’s home. Colloquial alternatives for “at home” are doma (very common) and sometimes kući in speech.
Does je sam mean “is am”? That looks confusing.
No. Je is “is” (3rd person singular of “to be”), and sam here is the adjective “alone,” agreeing with the subject’s gender/number. For a woman, you’d say je sama; for plural masculine, su sami.
Can I change the word order?
Yes, Croatian allows flexible word order for emphasis. Examples:
- Focus on “neighbor too”: I susjeda ćemo posjetiti...
- Neutral/additive: Posjetit ćemo i susjeda...
- With an adverb: Također ćemo posjetiti susjeda... All are grammatical; the position of i/također and the moved element signals what you’re emphasizing.
How do I negate this, and what happens to i under negation?
Neutral negation: Nećemo posjetiti susjeda (koji je sam kod kuće).
If you want “not even the neighbor,” use ni (the negative counterpart of i): Nećemo posjetiti ni susjeda. The future auxiliary fuses with negation: ne + ćemo → nećemo.
How do I turn it into a yes/no question?
Use li with the auxiliary: Hoćemo li posjetiti i susjeda koji je sam kod kuće? You can also front another element for focus while keeping li after the first stressed word: Hoćemo li i susjeda posjetiti...?
What’s the aspect of posjetiti, and how would I say this habitually?
Posjetiti is perfective (a one-off, completed visit). The habitual/imperfective is posjećivati: Posjećivat ćemo susjeda (“We will (be) visit(ing) the neighbor (regularly)”). Choose perfective for a single planned visit, imperfective for repeated action.
Is posjetićemo acceptable in Croatian?
Not in standard Croatian. Croatian writes the future as two words and, when the auxiliary follows, drops the infinitive’s final -i: posjetit ćemo. The single-word form posjetićemo is standard in Serbian, not in Croatian.
Should there be a comma before koji je sam kod kuće?
Without a comma, the clause is restrictive: it specifies which neighbor (the one who is home alone). With a comma, it’s non-restrictive (just extra information): Posjetit ćemo i susjeda, koji je sam kod kuće. Use punctuation to match your intended meaning.
How do I say “We’ll visit him, too” using a pronoun?
If the neighbor is clear from context: Posjetit ćemo ga također.
You can also front the focused pronoun: I njega ćemo posjetiti. Note the clitic order: in Posjetit ćemo ga, the object clitic ga follows the auxiliary clitic ćemo.
How would this look in the plural (“neighbors”)?
- Masculine neighbors: Posjetit ćemo i susjede koji su sami kod kuće.
- Feminine neighbors: Posjetit ćemo i susjede koje su same kod kuće.
The noun susjede is the same in the accusative plural for both genders; the relative pronoun/adjective (koji/koje, sami/same) clarifies gender.
How do I make “the neighbor” vs “a neighbor” explicit in Croatian?
Croatian has no articles, so context usually decides. You can be explicit with determiners:
- “the/that neighbor”: tog susjeda
- “our neighbor”: našeg susjeda
- “a (certain) neighbor”: jednog susjeda
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