Questions & Answers about Mislim da imamo dobru šansu za uspjeh.
What does mislim da literally mean, and do we always need da here?
Mislim is “I think” (1st person singular of misliti), and da is the conjunction “that”.
So mislim da imamo… literally = “I think that we have…”.
In Croatian, da is normally required to introduce this kind of subordinate clause:
- ✅ Mislim da imamo dobru šansu…
Leaving it out (Mislim imamo dobru šansu…) is generally not standard; you might hear it in fast, informal speech, but you should learn and use the version with da.
Why is there no “I” or “we” pronoun in the sentence? Where are ja and mi?
Croatian usually omits subject pronouns, because the verb ending shows the person:
- Mislim already tells you it’s “I think” (1st person singular).
- Imamo already tells you it’s “we have” (1st person plural).
You can add pronouns for emphasis:
- Ja mislim da mi imamo dobru šansu za uspjeh. – “I think that we have a good chance of success.” (stressed “I/we”)
But the neutral, natural version is without ja and mi.
Why is it and not ?