Rekao je da je krzno oko šape mokro zato što se mačka stalno grebala.

to be

Breakdown of Rekao je da je krzno oko šape mokro zato što se mačka stalno grebala.

• mačka: cat
• da: that
• reći: to say

Questions & Answers about Rekao je da je krzno oko šape mokro zato što se mačka stalno grebala.

Why are there two forms of je in this sentence?

They are doing two different jobs.

• Rekao je = he said. Here je is the auxiliary used to form the past tense.
• da je krzno ... mokro = that the fur ... is/was wet. Here je is the present tense of biti (to be), linking krzno and mokro.

So the two je forms are not redundant; they belong to two different parts of the sentence.

What exactly is rekao?

Rekao is the masculine singular past participle of reći, which means to say.

In Croatian, the common past tense is built with:

• a past participle
• plus a form of biti (to be)

So:

• rekao je = he said
• rekla je = she said
• rekli su = they said (masculine/mixed group)

The form rekao tells you the subject is masculine singular, even though on (he) is not stated.

Why doesn’t the sentence say On je rekao?

Because Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form.