Breakdown of Jutros sam bila pospana, pa sam zaboravila kišobran.
biti
to be
jutros
this morning
pa
so
zaboraviti
to forget
Questions & Answers about Jutros sam bila pospana, pa sam zaboravila kišobran.
Why is sam used twice in Jutros sam bila pospana, pa sam zaboravila kišobran?
Because there are really two separate verb phrases in the sentence:
- sam bila pospana = I was sleepy
- sam zaboravila kišobran = I forgot the umbrella
In Croatian, the auxiliary sam is used to form both:
- the past tense: sam zaboravila
- the past form of to be with an adjective: sam bila pospana
So each clause needs its own sam.
Why do bila, pospana, and zaboravila all end in -a?
Those forms show that the speaker is female.
In Croatian, some past-tense forms and adjectives agree with the speaker’s gender:
- bila = feminine singular of bio / bila / bilo
- pospana = feminine singular adjective
- zaboravila = feminine singular past participle
A male speaker would say:
- Jutros sam bio pospan, pa sam zaboravio kišobran.
So this sentence specifically sounds like it was said by a woman.
What exactly does jutros mean?