Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.

That country is not far away, but the journey takes a long time.

Breakdown of Ta zemlja nije udaljena, ali put traje dugo.

• biti: to be
• ne: not
• ali: but
• taj: that
• dugo: for a long time
• zemlja: country
• udaljen: far away
• put: journey
• trajati: to last

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.