Danas u učionici nema nikoga; nitko ne želi raditi.

to have

Breakdown of Danas u učionici nema nikoga; nitko ne želi raditi.

• ne: not
• u: in
• danas: today

Questions & Answers about Danas u učionici nema nikoga; nitko ne želi raditi.

What exactly does nema mean, and how is it related to ima?

Ima means “there is / there are / (someone) has”.
Nema is simply ne + ima, so it means “there is not / there are not / (someone) does not have”.

In this sentence, nema nikoga literally means “there is nobody” (or “there isn’t anyone”).
Grammatically, nema is usually followed by the genitive case (here: nikoga, genitive of nitko).

Why is it nikoga in the first part, but nitko in the second part?

Nitko is the nominative form (the “dictionary form”) meaning “nobody / no one.”
Nikoga is the genitive form of the same word.

• In nema nikoga, nikoga is in the genitive because nema (“there isn’t”) normally takes the genitive.
• In nitko ne želi raditi, nitko is the subject of the sentence, and subjects are in the nominative.

So:

• nitko = “nobody” as subject
• nikoga = “nobody” after nema, in the genitive.

Why does Croatian use “double negatives” like nema nikoga and nitko ne želi? Isn’t that incorrect?