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Questions & Answers about Cijelu noć učim hrvatski.
Why is it cijelu noć and not cijela noć here?
Because cijelu noć is in the accusative case, which is used here to express duration of time (“for the whole night / all night long”).
- cijela noć – nominative (subject):
- Cijela noć je bila tiha. = The whole night was quiet.
- cijelu noć – accusative (time duration):
- Cijelu noć učim hrvatski. = I study Croatian all night (long).
The adjective must agree with noć (feminine singular) in case, so nominative is cijela, accusative is cijelu.
What case is noć in, and why?
Noć here is in the accusative singular.
Croatian often uses the accusative without a preposition to show how long something lasts:
- Cijeli dan radim. – I work all day.
- Svaki tjedan učim. – I study every week.
- Cijelu noć učim hrvatski. – I study Croatian all night.
So cijelu noć is a time expression in the accusative meaning “the whole night / all night long.”
Why is cijelu ending in -u?