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Njena sestra ima više pratiteljica jer piše blog o hrvatskoj državi i politici.

Njena sestra ima više pratiteljica jer piše blog o hrvatskoj državi i politici.
Her sister has more female followers because she writes a blog about the Croatian state and politics.
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Questions & Answers about Njena sestra ima više pratiteljica jer piše blog o hrvatskoj državi i politici.

Why is it Njena sestra and not something like njezin sestra or njeno sestra?

Njena is a possessive adjective meaning “her.” It must agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number and case.

  • sestra = feminine, singular, nominative
  • So the correct form of njezin is njena (fem. sg. nom.): Njena sestra = Her sister

You cannot say njeno sestra because njeno is the form for neuter nouns (e.g. njeno dijete = her child).

Njezin(a) and njen(a) are variants of the same word. In practice:

  • njezina / njena = both “her” (feminine)
  • njezin / njen = both “her” (masculine)

Njena is more colloquial; njezina is often considered more standard/formal, but both are correct.

Is there any difference between Njena sestra and Njezina sestra?

Meaning-wise, no: both mean “her sister.”

The difference is stylistic:

  • Njezina sestra is slightly more formal/standard and is what you’ll usually see recommended in grammar books.
  • Njena sestra is very common in everyday speech and writing and is fully acceptable.

So you can safely use either. If you want to sound closer to textbook/Croatian TV news style, prefer njezina; if you’re chatting with friends, njena is perfectly natural.

Why is it ima and not something like je ima to say “has”?

In Croatian, “to have” is a separate verb: imati.

  • (ona) ima = she has
  • You do not use jesam (the “to be” verb) to express possession.

So:

  • Njena sestra ima više pratiteljica. = Her sister has more followers.
  • A construction like Njena sestra je ima… would be ungrammatical here.
Why is it više pratiteljica and not više pratiteljice or više pratiteljke?

Više (more) is followed by the genitive plural of the noun.

The noun pratiteljica (female follower) has:

  • Nominative singular: pratiteljica
  • Nominative plural: pratiteljice
  • Genitive plural: pratiteljica (same as nominative singular)

So:

  • više pratiteljica = more (female) followers (correct)
  • više pratiteljice would wrongly use the nominative plural, so it’s incorrect in this structure.

Pratiteljka is a Serbian form; in standard Croatian the usual form is pratiteljica.

Why is the noun pratiteljica in the genitive plural after više?

Words like više (more), manje (less), puno (a lot of), mnogo (much/many) normally require the genitive case in Croatian.

  • više vode = more water (gen. sg.)
  • više knjiga = more books (gen. pl.)
  • više pratiteljica = more (female) followers (gen. pl.)

So the pattern is: više + genitive.

Could you also say mnogo pratiteljica or puno pratiteljica instead of više pratiteljica?

You can, but the meaning changes slightly:

  • više pratiteljica = more followers (a comparison with someone else)
  • mnogo pratiteljica = many followers (emphasizes a large number)
  • puno pratiteljica = a lot of followers (colloquial, very common in speech)

So if the idea is “Her sister has more followers (than someone else),” you specifically need više.

Why is it jer piše blog and not jer ona piše blog?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the subject is clear from context or previous mention.

  • The subject “she” is already clear from Njena sestra.
  • The verb form piše is 3rd person singular, which matches ona (she).

So:

  • Njena sestra ima više pratiteljica jer piše blog...
    = Her sister has more followers because she writes a blog…

Adding ona ( jer ona piše blog ) is possible but usually only if you want to emphasize she in contrast to someone else (e.g. because SHE writes a blog, and the other one doesn’t).

What form of the verb is piše, and what does it tell me?

Piše is:

  • Present tense
  • 3rd person singular
  • Of the verb pisati (to write)
  • Imperfective aspect (focus on ongoing/habitual action)

So (ona) piše blog means “she writes a blog” (regularly / as an ongoing activity), not a single completed act.

Why is there no article like “a” or “the” before blog in Croatian?

Croatian has no articles like English a/an/the.

So:

  • piše blog can mean:
    • she writes a blog
    • she writes the blog
    • she writes blog(s)

Context decides which English article is appropriate in translation. Grammatically, Croatian just uses the bare noun.

Why is it o hrvatskoj državi i politici and not o hrvatska država i politika?

The preposition o (about) in this sense requires the locative case.

  • država (state) → locative singular: državi
  • politika (politics, policy) → locative singular: politici
  • hrvatska (Croatian, fem. adj.) → locative singular: hrvatskoj (agreeing with državi)

So you must say:

  • o hrvatskoj državi i politici = about the Croatian state and politics

Using nominative (hrvatska država i politika) after o would be ungrammatical here.

Why is the adjective only in hrvatskoj državi i politici before državi and not repeated before politici?

In Croatian, if two nouns share the same gender, number and case, one adjective can stand in front of the first noun and logically apply to both:

  • o hrvatskoj državi i politici = about the Croatian state and (Croatian) politics

Both državi and politici are feminine singular locative, so hrvatskoj can modify both. You may repeat it (o hrvatskoj državi i hrvatskoj politici) for emphasis or clarity, but it’s not necessary.

What case is hrvatskoj in, and why does it end in -oj?

Hrvatskoj is the locative singular, feminine form of the adjective hrvatski, -a, -o (Croatian).

For a typical feminine adjective:

  • Nominative sg.: hrvatska (Croatian)
  • Locative sg.: hrvatskoj

You use the locative here because of the preposition o (about):

  • o hrvatskoj državi = about the Croatian state
Why is državi used instead of država at the end?

Država (state) in the dictionary form is nominative singular.

After o (about) you need the locative singular:

  • Nominative: država
  • Locative: državi

So:

  • hrvatska država = Croatian state (as a subject)
  • o hrvatskoj državi = about the Croatian state
Should hrvatskoj be capitalized, since it’s related to the country Croatia?

No, it’s correct not to capitalize it here.

In Croatian:

  • Country names (nouns) are capitalized: Hrvatska (Croatia)
  • Adjectives derived from them are not: hrvatski, hrvatska, hrvatsko

So:

  • Hrvatska = Croatia
  • hrvatska država = Croatian state
  • hrvatskoj državi (in our sentence) is correctly lowercase.
Why is pratiteljica used here instead of a more direct equivalent of “followers” like sljedbenici?

Several words can translate English “followers,” but they have slightly different nuances:

  • pratitelj / pratiteljica
    • Common in social media context: people who follow your account, blog, etc.
  • sljedbenik / sljedbenica
    • More like follower in the sense of a supporter, disciple, or adherent of a person/ideology.
  • obožavatelj / obožavateljica
    • Fan, admirer.

Because this is about a blog, pratiteljica (female followers, in general or by grammatical gender) is the natural choice in modern Croatian for “followers” in an online sense.