Na zadnjim izborima mnogi studenti nisu glasali, jer su mislili da njihov glas nije važan.

At the last elections many students did not vote because they thought that their vote was not important.

Breakdown of Na zadnjim izborima mnogi studenti nisu glasali, jer su mislili da njihov glas nije važan.

• biti: to be
• ne: not
• njihov: their
• jer: because
• važan: important
• na: at
• misliti: to think
• da: that
• zadnji: last
• student: student
• izbor: election
• mnogi: many
• glasati: to vote
• glas: vote

Questions & Answers about Na zadnjim izborima mnogi studenti nisu glasali, jer su mislili da njihov glas nije važan.

What case is zadnjim izborima in, and why do we use the preposition na here?

Zadnjim izborima is in the locative plural.

• Noun: izbor (election) → plural: izbori
• Locative plural: izborima
• Adjective: zadnji (last) → locative plural masculine: zadnjim

In Croatian, the preposition na + locative is commonly used for events and occasions:

• na koncertu – at the concert
• na sastanku – at the meeting
• na izborima – at / in the elections

So na zadnjim izborima literally means at the last elections / in the last elections.

What’s the difference between zadnjim izborima and posljednjim izborima?

Both zadnji and posljednji can mean last, but there is a nuance:

• zadnji izbori – more colloquial; usually means the previous elections, the most recent ones that happened.
• posljednji izbori – can also mean the last elections, but can sound slightly more formal or suggest the final ones ever, depending on context.

In everyday speech about politics, zadnji izbori is very common and normally understood as the previous / most recent elections, not “the final elections ever”.

Why is it mnogi studenti and not mnogo studenata? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct, but they’re slightly different in feel:

• mnogi studenti – literally many students, with mnogi as an adjective:

  • mnogi (masc. pl.) + studenti (masc. pl. nominative)
  • Sounds like we are talking about them more as individual people, a relatively large group.

• mnogo studenata – literally a lot of students, with mnogo acting like an adverb/quantifier:

  • mnogo
    • studenata (genitive plural)
  • Slightly more impersonal or quantitative: focusing on number/amount.

In a sentence like this, both work. Mnogi studenti is a bit more personal: many students (as a group of individuals) didn’t vote.

Why is the negation written as nisu glasali and not ne su glasali?

In Croatian, the negative particle ne is usually written together with the auxiliary verb biti (to be) when forming the past tense:

• su glasali – they voted
• nisu glasali – they did not vote

So:

• ja sam glasao → ja nisam glasao
• oni su glasali → oni nisu glasali

You don’t say or write ne su glasali; it must be nisu glasali.

What is the difference between glasati and glasovati? Which one is better here?

Both glasati and glasovati mean to vote, and both are correct.

• glasati – very common in everyday speech:

  • nisu glasali – they didn’t vote

• glasovati – a bit more formal or standard-sounding in some regions:

  • nisu glasovali – they didn’t vote

In this sentence, nisu glasali is completely natural and widely used. You might hear both forms depending on region and personal preference.

Why is there a comma before jer in nisu glasali, jer su mislili…? Is that always required?

In standard Croatian, you normally put a comma before the conjunction jer (because) when it introduces a full clause:

• Nisu glasali, jer su mislili… – They didn’t vote, because they thought…

So the pattern is:

• [Main clause], jer [reason clause].

In English, commas before because are optional and depend on style and meaning. In Croatian, the comma before jer is much more regular and is normally written.

What is the function of da in da njihov glas nije važan, and how does this compare to English?

The da here introduces a subordinate clause that works like an English that-clause:

• mislili su da njihov glas nije važan
  → they thought that their vote was not important

So da in this context ≈ English that (introducing what they thought, believed, said, etc.).

Common verbs followed by da:

• misliti da… – to think that…
• reći da… – to say that…
• vjerovati da… – to believe that…

You generally don’t translate English that literally as some other word; in these cases, Croatian uses da.

Why is it njihov glas and not njihova glas or njihovog glasa?

The phrase njihov glas is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the subordinate clause:

• njihov glas – their vote (masculine singular nominative)
• nije važan – is not important

Forms:

• glas is masculine singular:

  • nominative: glas
  • genitive: glasa

• Adjective/pronoun njihov (their) agrees with glas in:

  • gender: masculine
  • number: singular
  • case: nominative

So we say:

• njihov glas (nom. sg.) – their vote (as subject)
  Not:
• njihova glas – wrong gender ending
• njihovog glasa – that would be genitive, needed only in different structures (e.g. bez njihovog glasa – without their vote).

Why is the adjective važan in the form važan, and how does it agree with glas?

Važan is a masculine singular adjective in nominative, agreeing with glas:

• glas – masculine singular noun
• važan – masculine singular nominative form of važan (important)

The pattern is:

• njihov glas nije važan
  
  • njihov – masc. sg. nom.
  • glas – masc. sg. nom.
  • važan – masc. sg. nom.

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would change:

• odluka nije važna – the decision is not important
• pravila nisu važna – the rules are not important (neuter plural, but same ending as fem. sg. in this adjective type)

Why does the sentence use nisu glasali (past tense) and mislili su (also past) instead of the present tense?

The actions being described happened at a specific time in the past: during the last elections. So Croatian uses the past tense (perfect):

• nisu glasali – they didn’t vote
• jer su mislili – because they thought

Using the present (e.g. ne glasaju, jer misle) would describe an ongoing, general situation: they don’t (ever) vote because they think… That would change the meaning from a one-time past event to a general habit or rule, so the past is correct here.

Can we change the word order in jer su mislili da njihov glas nije važan? For example, jer mislili su?

In standard Croatian, the auxiliary su usually stands in second position within the clause (the so‑called Wackernagel position). The most natural order here is:

• jer su mislili da njihov glas nije važan

Other orders are possible but can sound unnatural or emphatic in the wrong way:

• jer mislili su da… – possible in spoken language with emphasis, but marked
• jer su oni mislili da… – emphasizes oni (they), as opposed to someone else

For a neutral statement, keep:

• [conjunction] + [short unstressed word(s)] + [main verb]
  → jer su mislili… is the standard, neutral order.