Možemo tražiti restoran u gradu.

We can look for a restaurant in the city.

Breakdown of Možemo tražiti restoran u gradu.

• grad: city
• u: in
• moći: to be able to
• restoran: restaurant
• tražiti: to look for

Questions & Answers about Možemo tražiti restoran u gradu.

What form is možemo, and do I need to say mi?

• Možemo is the 1st person plural present of moći (to be able to), so it already means we can.
• Croatian verbs encode the subject, so mi (we) is optional and used mainly for emphasis or contrast.
  • Možemo tražiti restoran.
  • Mi možemo, ali oni ne mogu.

Why is tražiti in the infinitive after možemo? Can I say možemo da tražimo?

• In standard Croatian, modals like moći, morati, htjeti, trebati are followed by the bare infinitive: možemo tražiti.
• Možemo da tražimo is characteristic of Serbian; it is not standard Croatian.
• Do not say možemo tražimo (that is ungrammatical).

Does tražiti mean look for or ask for? What if I want to ask a question?

• Tražiti primarily means to look for, to seek.
• It can also mean to request or ask for an item: Tražim račun (I’m asking for the bill).
• To ask a question, use pitati: Pitam konobara (I ask the waiter).

Why does restoran look unchanged? Shouldn’t the object take a case ending?

• It is in the accusative as a direct object. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular equals the nominative singular, so restoran stays the same.
• Compare:
  • Inanimate: Vidim restoran.
  • Animate: Vidim čovjeka. (accusative differs from nominative)
• In the plural, accusative changes: Tražimo restorane.

What case is u gradu, and why not u grad?

• U gradu is locative singular (place where). After u meaning in/inside a place, use the locative: u gradu, u kući, u parku.
• Use accusative after u for motion into: Idemo u grad (we are going to the city).

Is the word order fixed? Can I move u gradu or restoran around?

• Croatian word order is flexible; you move elements to highlight or contrast information.
  • Neutral: Možemo tražiti restoran u gradu.
  • Emphasizing location: U gradu možemo tražiti restoran.
  • Topicalizing the object: Restoran možemo tražiti u gradu.
• If you add clitics (like ga, ih), they keep the second position in the clause: U gradu ga možemo tražiti.

Are there articles in Croatian? How do I know if it’s a or the restaurant?

• Croatian has no articles. Restoran can mean a restaurant or the restaurant, depending on context.
• You can add determiners for clarity:
  • jedan restoran (one/a certain restaurant)
  • neki restoran (some restaurant)
  • taj/ovaj onaj restoran (that/this restaurant)

How do I say we are looking for, we can look for, and let’s look for?

• Ongoing action: Tražimo restoran u gradu. (we are looking)
• Ability/permission: Možemo tražiti restoran u gradu. (we can)
• Suggestion:
  • Common: Hajdemo/ajmo potražiti restoran u gradu.
  • Imperative (more formal/written): Potražimo restoran u gradu!
  • Plain Tražimo… can function as let’s in some contexts but is less common than Potražimo….

What about aspect? Is there a perfective partner to tražiti?

• Tražiti is imperfective (process, duration, habit).
• Common perfectives:
  • potražiti (set out to look for, try looking once)
  • pronaći/naći (to find; result)
• Nuance with možemo:
  • Možemo potražiti restoran u gradu. (we can try/look once)
  • Možemo pronaći restoran u gradu. (we are able to find one)

How do I pronounce the ž and other sounds here?

• ž = the sound of s in measure (zh).
• r is tapped or trilled.
• Vowels are pure: a (father), e (bet), i (machine), o (more), u (boot).
• Rough guides:
  • možemo ≈ MO-zhe-mo
  • tražiti ≈ TRA-zhee-tee
  • restoran ≈ res-to-RAN
  • u ≈ oo
  • gradu ≈ GRA-doo

When do I use u versus na with places?

• u for being inside/enclosed spaces and cities: u gradu, u kući, u Zagrebu.
• na for surfaces, open areas, events, and some set expressions: na trgu (on the square), na koncertu, na otoku (on an island), na selu (in the countryside).

What does po gradu mean compared to u gradu?

• u gradu = in the city (simple location).
• po gradu = around the city/throughout the city (movement or distribution).
  • Tražit ćemo restoran po gradu. (we’ll look around town for a restaurant)

How would object pronouns fit in, like it or them?

• Clitics go to the second position in the clause:
  • Možemo ga tražiti u gradu. (we can look for it/him; ga = masc. sg.)
  • Možemo ih tražiti u gradu. (we can look for them; ih = plural)
• Use a pronoun only if the referent is already known from context.

How do I say the name of a specific city after u?

• Use the locative of the city name:
  • u Zagrebu, u Splitu, u Rijeci, u Dubrovniku
  • Foreign cities: u Londonu, u Parizu, u New Yorku
• The exact ending varies with the noun’s gender and form, but many masculine city names take -u in the locative.