Questions & Answers about Šivanje mi pomaže poslije napornog dana.
What is šivanje here? Is it a verb or a noun?
It is a noun.
More specifically, šivanje is a verbal noun formed from a verb meaning to sew. In this sentence it means sewing as an activity, just like English sewing in Sewing helps me.
So grammatically:
- šivanje = the activity of sewing
- it behaves like a singular noun
- it is neuter
That is why it can be the subject of the sentence.
Why is there mi? What case is it?
Mi is the dative singular form of ja (I).
Here it means to me, but in natural English we usually translate it simply as me:
- Šivanje mi pomaže = Sewing helps me
This is because the verb pomagati (to help) normally takes the person being helped in the dative in Croatian.
So:
- mi = to me
- ti = to you
- mu / joj = to him / to her
A learner often expects the equivalent of English direct object me, but Croatian uses the dative with this verb.
Why is it ?