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Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ovo su šibice. - These are matches.

Hardcore Croatian
/Preparing for a power outage
/Ovo su šibice.

Ovo su šibice.

Word

Ovo su šibice.

Meaning

These are matches.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Croatian

Lesson

Preparing for a power outage

Breakdown of Ovo su šibice.

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Questions & Answers about Ovo su šibice.

Why does the sentence start with ovo and not ova?

Because ovo is the Croatian demonstrative pronoun meaning this / these when you are identifying something.

In Ovo su šibice, ovo works like these are... in English.

A useful distinction is:

ovo = this / these as a pronoun, often in sentences like This is... / These are...
ova = a form meaning this / these when it directly modifies a noun

For example:

Ovo su šibice. = These are matches.
Ove šibice su nove. = These matches are new.

So here, ovo is correct because it stands on its own before su.

Why is su used here?

Su is the 3rd person plural form of the verb biti (to be).

So:

je = is
su = are

Since šibice is plural, Croatian uses su:

Ovo je šibica. = This is a match.
Ovo su šibice. = These are matches.

Is šibice singular or plural?

Šibice is plural here: matches.

The singular form is:

šibica = match
šibice = matches

So the pattern is:

Ovo je šibica.
Ovo su šibice.

This is why the verb changes from je to su.

What is the basic dictionary form of šibice?

The dictionary form is šibica.

That is the singular nominative form, which is the form you normally look up in a dictionary.

From there:

singular: šibica
plural: šibice

So if you want to memorize the word, learn it as šibica.

Why is there no word for a or the in Croatian?

Croatian does not use articles like English a and the.

So šibica can mean:

a match
the match

And šibice can mean:

matches
the matches

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is completely normal in Croatian, so Ovo su šibice is a full natural sentence without any article.

What case is šibice in here?

Here šibice is in the nominative plural.

That is because it is the predicate noun in an identification sentence with to be:

Ovo je knjiga.
Ovo su ključevi.
Ovo su šibice.

A learner does not need to overthink it at first: after this kind of This is... / These are... structure, Croatian normally uses the nominative form.

How do you pronounce Ovo su šibice?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Ovo ≈ OH-vo
su ≈ soo
šibice ≈ SHEE-bee-tseh

A few key points:

š sounds like sh in shoe
c in Croatian usually sounds like ts in cats
Stress can vary by dialect and teaching style, but for a beginner the approximation above is good enough

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

OH-vo soo SHEE-bee-tseh

Could I also say To su šibice?

Yes, To su šibice is also possible and very common.

Both ovo and to can appear in identifying sentences, but they are not exactly the same in feel:

ovo = this / these here
to = that / those or sometimes a more general that / those are

Very roughly:

Ovo su šibice. = These are matches.
To su šibice. = Those are matches. or Those are matches / They are matches.

In real usage, both can appear in similar contexts, but ovo usually feels closer to the speaker.

Why doesn’t Croatian use a separate word for these here?

Because Croatian often uses ovo in identification sentences where English uses these.

English changes:

This is...
These are...

Croatian often keeps ovo and lets the verb show whether the thing is singular or plural:

Ovo je šibica.
Ovo su šibice.

So the singular/plural difference is shown mainly by:

je / su
the noun form (šibica / šibice)

That may feel unusual to an English speaker, but it is a normal Croatian pattern.

Can the word order change?

Yes, Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but Ovo su šibice is the most neutral and natural version.

You may also hear:

Šibice su ovo.

But that sounds marked or contrastive, as if you are emphasizing matches specifically.

For learners, the safest default is:

Ovo su šibice.

Is šibice only the word for matchsticks, or can it mean a matchbox too?

Šibica usually means a matchstick, and šibice means matches.

Depending on context, people may sometimes use the plural in a practical sense when talking about a box of matches, but the literal word is still matches, not specifically matchbox.

If you want to be precise:

šibica = a match
šibice = matches
kutija šibica = a box of matches

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