Questions & Answers about Dijelim sobu s bratom.
What cases are used in the words sobu and bratom, and why?
- sobu is accusative singular of soba (feminine). It’s the direct object of the verb dijelim (I share).
- bratom is instrumental singular of brat (masculine). After the preposition s/sa meaning “with,” Croatian uses the instrumental case: s/sa + instrumental.
When do I use s and when sa?
Both mean “with.” Use sa mainly to make pronunciation easier:
- before words starting with s-, z-, š-, ž- (e.g., sa sestrom, sa ženom, sa svojim bratom)
- before some tricky clusters (e.g., sa psom, often preferred to s psom) Otherwise, s is fine (e.g., s bratom, s prijateljem). In your sentence, both s bratom and sa bratom are correct; s bratom is the default.
Why is there no word for my? Should I add it?
Croatian often omits possessives when the meaning is clear. s bratom will usually be understood as “with my brother” from context. To be explicit:
- Preferred when the subject is the possessor: Dijelim sobu sa svojim bratom. (uses reflexive possessive svoj)
- Also possible: Dijelim sobu s mojim bratom. ( is grammatical but less idiomatic in this context) If the possessor is someone else, use that person’s possessive: