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Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.

Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.
That country is not far away, but the journey takes a long time.
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Questions & Answers about Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.

Why is it ta zemlja and not ta država for “that country”?

Both can mean “country,” but they’re not identical:

  • zemlja = land, country, territory, also “earth/soil” and “planet Earth”
    • Ta zemlja nije udaljena. – That country/land is not far away.
  • država = state (a political entity, with a government)
    • Ta država nije udaljena. – That state is not far away.

In everyday speech, zemlja is very commonly used for “country” in the geographic sense. Država sounds a bit more formal or political (state, sovereign state), though context often makes them interchangeable.

What gender and case are ta and zemlja, and how do they agree?
  • zemlja is a feminine noun, singular, in the nominative case (the subject of the sentence).
  • ta is a feminine, singular, nominative demonstrative adjective/pronoun.

In Croatian, adjectives and demonstratives must agree with the noun in:

  • gender (masculine/feminine/neuter)
  • number (singular/plural)
  • case (nominative/accusative, etc.)

So:

  • ta zemlja – that country (feminine, singular, nominative)
  • te zemlje – those countries (feminine, plural, nominative or genitive, depending on context)
Where is the verb “to be” in Ta zemlja nije udaljena?

It’s inside nije.

  • je = is
  • ne = not
  • nije = is not

Croatian often merges ne + je into one word nije. So:

  • Ta zemlja je udaljena. – That country is distant.
  • Ta zemlja nije udaljena. – That country is not distant.

The verb je doesn’t disappear; it’s just fused with ne.

Is udaljena an adjective or a verb form?

Formally, udaljena is a participle, but in this sentence it functions as an adjective meaning “distant, far away, remote.”

  • Masculine: udaljen
  • Feminine: udaljena
  • Neuter: udaljeno
  • Plural feminine: udaljene, etc.

Here it agrees with zemlja (feminine, singular, nominative):

  • Ta zemlja je udaljena. – That country is distant.
  • Ta zemlja nije udaljena. – That country is not distant.

You can think of it like English “(is) located far away,” but grammatically it behaves like an adjective.

Could I say Ta zemlja nije daleko instead? What’s the difference between udaljena and daleko?

Yes, you can say:

  • Ta zemlja nije daleko.

Differences:

  • udaljena – adjective (“distant, remote”)
    • More like “(a) remote country” / “(is) distant.”
  • daleko – adverb (“far”)
    • Describes the degree of distance: “is not far.”

Nuance:

  • nije udaljena sounds a bit more descriptive or formal (“not a remote country”).
  • nije daleko is more neutral and very common in everyday speech (“it’s not far”).

Both are correct; context and style decide which sounds more natural.

Why is there a comma before ali?

In Croatian, a comma is normally used before coordinating conjunctions like ali (“but”) when they join two clauses:

  • Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.

We have:

  1. Ta zemlja nije udaljena – one clause
  2. put traje dugo – another clause

They are connected by ali, so a comma is placed before ali.

What exactly does put mean here, and what gender is it?

put here means “trip, journey, travel; the act of traveling.”

It is:

  • masculine
  • singular
  • nominative (subject of traje)

So:

  • put traje dugo – the trip/journey lasts a long time.

Other common uses:

  • na putu – on the way / on a trip
  • ići na put – to go on a trip
What does traje literally mean, and which tense is it?

traje is the 3rd person singular, present tense of the verb trajati.

Meaning: “to last, to go on (for a certain time)”
So:

  • put traje dugo – the trip lasts a long time.
  • Film traje dva sata. – The movie lasts two hours.

Aspect: trajati is generally imperfective – it describes a process or duration, not a single completed event.

Can I change the word order to ali dugo traje put or ali put dugo traje?

Yes, Croatian word order is flexible, though it changes emphasis:

  • ali put traje dugo – neutral; focus on “lasts a long time.”
  • ali put dugo traje – slight emphasis on dugo (how long).
  • ali dugo traje put – sounds more marked/poetic or emphatic; draws attention to the length of the trip in a stylistic way.

All are grammatically correct, but in normal speech ali put traje dugo or ali put dugo traje are the most natural.

Why is it dugo, not dugačak or dugi?

Because here “long” describes the duration of the action (how long it lasts), not a property of a noun.

  • dugo = adverb (“for a long time”)
    • put traje dugo – the trip lasts a long time.
  • dugačak / dugi = adjective (“long” describing a noun)
    • dug put / dugačak put – a long trip (literally: long road).

So:

  • Put je dug. – The trip is long (adjective).
  • Put traje dugo. – The trip lasts a long time (adverb).
Would it be correct to say Ta zemlja nije udaljeno?

No, that would be incorrect in this context.

  • udaljeno is neuter, or can act as an adverb (“from afar, remotely”).
  • zemlja is feminine, so the predicate adjective must also be feminine: udaljena.

Correct:

  • Ta zemlja nije udaljena. – That country is not distant.

Udaljeno would fit with a neuter subject:

  • To mjesto nije udaljeno. – That place is not distant.
How would the sentence change if I talked about several countries instead of one?

You need to make the subject and the adjective plural and keep the rest:

  • Te zemlje nisu udaljene, ali put traje dugo.

Changes:

  • ta zemlja → te zemlje (feminine plural)
  • nije → nisu (3rd person plural of “to be”)
  • udaljena → udaljene (feminine plural adjective)

put traje dugo stays the same, since the journey (put) is still singular.