Word
Navečer me bole leđa ako dugo sjedim u uredu.
Meaning
In the evening my back hurts if I sit in the office for a long time.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Navečer me bole leđa ako dugo sjedim u uredu.
u
in
sjediti
to sit
me
me (accusative short form)
ako
if
Questions & Answers about Navečer me bole leđa ako dugo sjedim u uredu.
Why is it me bole leđa and not boli me leđa?
Because the verb boljeti agrees with what hurts, which is the subject. Leđa is grammatically plural, so the verb must be bole (3rd person plural). Compare:
- Boli me glava. (singular subject: glava)
- Bole me oči. (plural subject: oči)
- Bole me leđa. (plural-only noun: leđa)
What case is me? Why not mi?
me is the unstressed accusative of ja used with boljeti to mark the experiencer. The dative mi is not used here in standard Croatian. For emphasis you can use the stressed form mene: Mene bole leđa.
Why is leđa treated as plural?
In Croatian, leđa (“back”) exists only in the plural (it’s a pluralia tantum noun). Key forms:
- Nominative/Accusative/Genitive plural: leđa
- Dative/Locative/Instrumental plural: leđima Examples: Bole me leđa. / Bol u donjem dijelu leđa. / U leđima me boli.
Can I say Boli me u leđima instead?