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Questions & Answers about Posao je lak.
What is the grammatical breakdown of the sentence?
- Posao: job/work (masculine singular noun), the subject.
- je: is (3rd person singular present of biti = to be), a clitic/copula.
- lak: easy/light (adjective), the predicate adjective. Structure: Subject + copula + predicate adjective. Both the subject and the predicate adjective are in the nominative; the adjective agrees with the subject in gender and number (here: masculine singular nominative).
Why is there no article (no “a/the”)?
Croatian has no articles. Posao je lak can mean either “The job is easy” or “A job is easy,” depending on context. To make it specific, you can add a demonstrative or a possessive:
- Ovaj posao je lak (This job is easy)
- Taj posao je lak (That job is easy)
- Moj posao je lak (My job is easy)
What gender/case is “posao,” and how does “lak” agree?
- posao is masculine, nominative singular.
- lak is masculine nominative singular, agreeing with posao in gender and number because it’s a predicate adjective after the copula.
Why is it “lak” and not “lako”?
- lak is an adjective form and must agree with the noun posao (masculine singular).
- lako is the adverb (or the neuter adjective form). You use lako when there’s no noun to agree with or you’re modifying a verb:
- Correct: Lako je. (It’s easy.)
- Correct: To se lako radi. (That is done easily.)
- Incorrect here: Posao je lako. (adverb cannot modify the noun “posao”)
What’s the difference between lak and lagan?
They are near-synonyms.
- For “easy” (not difficult), lak is the default: Posao je lak.
- lagan often means “light (in weight)” or “gentle,” but can also mean “easy” in some contexts: lagana vježba (a light/easy exercise).
- Opposite of lak (easy) is težak (hard/difficult). Opposite of lagan (light-weight) is težak (heavy).
How do I negate it (say “The job is not easy”)?
Use nije, the negated form of je:
- Posao nije lak. (The job is not easy.)
How do I ask “Is the job easy?” as a yes/no question?
Use the particle li with the copula:
- Je li posao lak? (standard)
- Je l’ posao lak? (colloquial contraction) You can also ask with rising intonation: Posao je lak? (more conversational).
Can I change the word order?
Yes, for emphasis, while keeping the clitic je in second position:
- Neutral: Posao je lak.
- Emphatic (highlighting “easy”): Lak je posao. Word order shifts are used for focus/emphasis; the basic meaning stays the same.
How do I say it in the plural (“Jobs are easy”)?
- Plural of posao is irregular: poslovi.
- Verb and adjective agree in number: Poslovi su laki. (Jobs are easy.)
What are the comparative and superlative forms?
- Comparative: lakši (easier) → Posao je lakši.
- Superlative: najlakši (easiest) → Ovo je najlakši posao. (This is the easiest job.)
How would it look with feminine or neuter nouns?
The adjective changes to match the noun:
- Feminine: Zadaća je laka. (The homework is easy.)
- Neuter: Pitanje je lako. (The question is easy.) Pattern: masculine lak, feminine laka, neuter lako.
What’s the difference between posao and rad?
- posao = a job, task, occupation, the work you do (countable or uncountable depending on context).
- rad = work/activity in a more abstract or general sense (often uncountable, also used in academic/scientific contexts: znanstveni rad = scientific paper/work). Example: Imam puno posla (I have a lot of work [to do]) vs. Rad je važan (Work is important).
Can I omit je like in some languages that drop “to be”?
No. In standard Croatian, you do not omit the present tense of biti in ordinary sentences. You should say Posao je lak, not just Posao lak. (Omission can appear in headlines or very telegraphic styles, but not in normal speech.)
How do I pronounce it?
- Posao: three syllables, po-sa-o, usually stressed on the first syllable. In casual speech you may hear pos’o.
- je: pronounced like “yeh,” unstressed (a clitic).
- lak: short a, like “luck” without the “ck.”
Could lak here be the noun meaning “varnish/lacquer”?
Theoretically lak can be a noun (varnish), but in Posao je lak the natural reading is the adjective “easy,” because a job being “varnish” makes no sense. Context and common usage disambiguate. If you meant the noun, you’d typically have a different subject or add context: Ovo je lak. (This is varnish.)
How do I use the adjective before the noun?
Default attributive use is lak + noun:
- lak posao (an easy job) Definiteness is handled by determiners, not articles: taj lak posao (that easy job), ovaj lak posao (this easy job). The predicative pattern remains Posao je lak.
What are the present-tense forms of “to be” (biti) I might need?
- ja sam (I am)
- ti si (you are, sg.)
- on/ona/ono je (he/she/it is)
- mi smo (we are)
- vi ste (you are, pl./formal)
- oni/one/ona su (they are)
How can I say “This job is easy for me”?
Use a dative pronoun for “for me”:
- Ovaj posao mi je lak. (Literally: This job to-me is easy.) You can replace mi with others: ti (to you), mu (to him), joj (to her), nam (to us), vam (to you pl.), im (to them).
What’s the opposite of “lak” in this sense?
- težak (hard/difficult): Posao je težak. (The job is hard.)