Questions & Answers about Bez povjerenja i poštovanja teško je da partneri dugo ostanu jedno uz drugo.
What case does bez require, and why do we get povjerenja and poštovanja?
Bez means without, and it takes the genitive case.
So:
- povjerenje → povjerenja
- poštovanje → poštovanja
Both of these are neuter singular nouns, and their genitive singular form ends in -a.
So bez povjerenja i poštovanja means without trust and respect.
Why is there no word for the in this sentence?
Croatian has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of a / an / the.
That means partneri can mean:
- partners
- the partners
- sometimes just people in a relationship, depending on context
You understand definiteness from the situation, not from an article.
What does teško je mean here, literally and grammatically?
Teško je literally means it is hard / it is difficult.
This is an impersonal expression:
- teško = hard, difficult
- je = is
There is no real subject like it in Croatian here; English adds it because English needs one.
So teško je da... means something like:
- it is difficult for ... to ...
- it is hard for ... to ...
Why is da used here?
In this sentence, da introduces a subordinate clause.
So:
- teško je da partneri dugo ostanu...
means roughly:
- it is hard for partners to remain...
- literally closer to it is hard that partners remain...
English usually prefers an infinitive here, but Croatian often uses da + a finite verb.
So do not translate da too mechanically as that in every sentence. Here it is part of a structure that English would usually express differently.
What form is ostanu?
Ostanu is the 3rd person plural present form of ostati.
- ostati = to stay, remain
- ostanu = they stay / remain
The subject is partneri, so the verb is plural:
- partneri ostanu = the partners remain / stay
Why is ostanu used instead of ostaju?
This is mainly about aspect.
- ostati is perfective
- ostajati is imperfective
In this sentence, ostanu comes from ostati, and that is the normal choice here. After da, Croatian often uses a present-tense form of a perfective verb where English would use something like to stay / to remain.
So da partneri dugo ostanu jedno uz drugo means roughly:
- for partners to remain together for a long time
- for partners to manage to stay by each other’s side for a long time
Using ostaju would change the feel and would not fit this structure as well.
Can a perfective verb really go with dugo?
Yes.
Even though learners often associate perfective verbs with a single completed event, ostati often means to remain / to stay, and it can naturally combine with duration expressions such as:
- dugo ostati = to stay a long time
- kratko ostati = to stay a short time
So dugo ostanu is not strange. It means they remain together for a long time.
Why is partneri in the nominative?
Because partneri is the subject of the clause introduced by da.
The structure is:
- partneri = subject
- ostanu = verb
So we need the nominative plural:
- singular: partner
- plural: partneri
What does jedno uz drugo mean?
Jedno uz drugo literally means one next to the other, but in a sentence like this it usually means:
- by each other’s side
- together
- close to one another
So the whole ending:
- ostanu jedno uz drugo
means something like:
- remain by each other’s side
- stay together
It can suggest both physical closeness and emotional/relationship closeness.
Why are jedno and drugo singular and neuter if partneri is plural?
This is a very common pattern in Croatian.
Expressions like:
- jedno drugo
- jedno uz drugo
- jedno za drugo
often use neuter singular forms even when talking about two people in the plural.
It works a bit like a fixed relational expression meaning:
- each other
- one another
So you should learn jedno uz drugo as a set phrase meaning by each other’s side / next to each other.
Why is it uz drugo? What case does uz take?
Uz normally takes the accusative.
That is why we get:
- drugo here as the accusative form
In this expression:
- jedno uz drugo
the idea is one beside the other.
So even if you learn it as a whole phrase, it is still useful to know that uz governs the accusative.
Could I replace jedno uz drugo with zajedno?
Often yes, but the nuance changes.
- zajedno = together in a general sense
- jedno uz drugo = by each other’s side, more vivid and relational
So:
- partneri dugo ostanu zajedno = partners stay together for a long time
- partneri dugo ostanu jedno uz drugo = partners remain by each other’s side for a long time
The second version feels a bit more emotional and expressive.
Is the word order fixed here?
Not completely. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.
This sentence is natural as:
- Bez povjerenja i poštovanja teško je da partneri dugo ostanu jedno uz drugo.
It starts with bez povjerenja i poštovanja to emphasize the condition: without trust and respect.
That fronting is very normal in Croatian. English can also do something similar:
- Without trust and respect, it is hard for partners to stay together for a long time.
So the word order is not random; it helps highlight what the sentence is really about.
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