Learn Hardcore Croatian: Njegova prijateljica je pjesnikinja i ne samo piše, nego i pjeva svoje pjesme. - His female friend is a poet and not only writes, but also sings her songs.

In Croatian, short forms of the verb biti (to be) like je, sam, si, su are clitics. A key feature of clitics is that they like to stand in the second position in the clause, usually after the first stressed word or phrase.

Njegova prijateljica je pjesnikinja.
First phrase: Njegova prijateljica → clitic je comes right after it.
Njegova je prijateljica pjesnikinja.
First word: Njegova → clitic je comes right after it.

The first version sounds slightly more neutral and common here, but both obey the “second position” rule for clitics and are natural.

What is the difference between prijatelj and prijateljica?

Both mean friend, but they mark gender:

prijatelj – male friend
prijateljica – female friend

The ending -ica is a common way to form feminine nouns from masculine ones:

učitelj → učiteljica (male teacher → female teacher)
student → studentica (male student → female student)

So Njegova prijateljica specifically means his female friend.

Why is it pjesnikinja and not pjesnik?

Again, this is about grammatical and natural gender:

pjesnik – a male poet
pjesnikinja – a female poet

The suffix -inja (or -kinja in some words) is another common way to form feminine profession or role names:

glumac → glumica (actor → actress, different pattern but same idea)
junak → junakinja (hero → heroine)
radnik → radnica (worker, m → f, here -nica)

Because the subject is prijateljica (female friend), the natural choice is pjesnikinja.

What does the structure ne samo … nego i … mean exactly, and how does it work here?

The pattern ne samo X, nego i Y means “not only X, but (also) Y”.

In the sentence:

ne samo piše, nego i pjeva svoje pjesme
→ not only (she) writes, but (she) also sings her poems

Points to notice:

The subject (ona / she) is omitted because it is clear from context (njegova prijateljica).
Croatian often doesn’t repeat the subject pronoun.
The verbs piše and pjeva are in the 3rd person singular present tense:
- pisati → piše (to write → writes)
- pjevati → pjeva (to sing → sings)

You can think of it as:

Ona ne samo (da) piše, nego i pjeva svoje pjesme.
→ “She not only writes, but also sings her (own) poems.”

Sometimes I see ne samo da piše, nego i pjeva. Is da missing here? Is it wrong to leave it out?

Both versions are acceptable:

ne samo piše, nego i pjeva
ne samo da piše, nego i pjeva

Adding da can make the first part feel a bit more emphatic or explicitly subordinate, a bit like:

not only that she writes, but (also) she sings

In everyday speech and writing, people very often drop the “da”, especially when the structure is short and clear, as in your sentence. So the version without “da” is completely natural.

Why is it svoje pjesme and not njegove pjesme or njezine pjesme?

Svoje is a reflexive possessive pronoun. It means something like “one’s own” and always refers back to the subject of the clause.

Here, the subject is njegova prijateljica (his friend, she). So:

svoje pjesme = her own poems (the poems that belong to her)

If you used njezine instead:

njezine pjesme = her poems
→ grammatically OK, but it does not automatically say they belong to the subject; context must clarify who “she” is.

If you said njegove pjesme:

njegove pjesme = his poems (the poems of some man, not of the female friend)
→ that would change the meaning: she sings his poems.

So, svoje is used to clearly say that the poems belong to the subject herself.

What form is svoje here, and how does it agree with pjesme?

Pjesme here is:

gender: feminine
number: plural
case: accusative (direct object of pjeva)

The base form is pjesma (a song / a poem).

The reflexive possessive has to agree with the noun it refers to, not with the person:

svoje is feminine plural accusative, matching pjesme.

So:

pjeva svoje pjesme
→ svoje (fem. pl. acc.) + pjesme (fem. pl. acc.)

Why is it pjeva svoje pjesme and not pjeva svoje pjesama?

Because here pjesme is the direct object (she sings what? the songs), so it is in the accusative plural:

nominative singular: pjesma
accusative singular: pjesmu
nominative plural: pjesme
accusative plural: pjesme

The form pjesama is genitive plural (used for “of songs/poems”, quantities, etc.):

nema pjesama – there are no songs
dosta pjesama – enough songs

But with a verb like pjevati (to sing) taking a direct object, you need accusative, so pjeva pjesme (not pjesama).

Why doesn’t Croatian use a word for “a” or “the”, like “His friend is a poet”?

Croatian does not have articles like English a/an and the.
The noun pjesnikinja by itself can mean:

a poet (indefinite)
the poet (definite)

The exact meaning is understood from context, word order, and sometimes other words.

So:

Njegova prijateljica je pjesnikinja.
can be translated as:
- His friend is a poet.
- His friend is the poet. (if the context is specific)

You don’t add any extra word to mark “a” or “the”.

Why are piše and pjeva in the present tense here? Could we use another form?

Piše and pjeva are both 3rd person singular present tense:

pisati → (ona) piše – she writes
pjevati → (ona) pjeva – she sings

In Croatian, the present tense is often used to express habitual actions or general characteristics, just like English “She writes and sings” can mean regularly, as a typical activity.

So here, the present tense describes what she generally does as part of being a poet.

You could choose another tense if you change the meaning:

je pisala i pjevala svoje pjesme – she wrote and sang her poems (in the past)
će pisati i pjevati svoje pjesme – she will write and sing her poems (in the future)

But for a stable, general fact, present is the natural choice.

Can I change the order in ne samo piše, nego i pjeva, for example: piše ne samo, nego i pjeva?

No, piše ne samo, nego i pjeva is not natural Croatian.

The usual pattern is:

ne samo + [verb/phrase], nego (i) + [verb/phrase]

So natural variants are:

ne samo piše, nego i pjeva (svoje pjesme)
ne samo da piše, nego i pjeva (svoje pjesme)

You can move parts around in a more complex sentence, but “ne samo” should stay in front of the first contrasted element, and “nego (i)” should stand in front of the second. That’s what signals the “not only … but (also) …” contrast clearly.

Is there any difference between pjeva svoje pjesme and pjeva svoje pjesme sama?

Yes, adding sama changes the nuance:

pjeva svoje pjesme – she sings her own songs/poems (neutral)
pjeva svoje pjesme sama – she sings her own songs/poems herself, alone
(or without help, without a band, etc., depending on context)

Sama means “by herself / alone” and adds extra information that is not present in the original sentence.