Breakdown of Direktor poštuje naš izbor, ali on ima svoj.
on
he
ali
but (strong contrast)
imati
to have
direktor
director, manager (of a company)
poštovati
to respect
naš
our
svoj
one's own
izbor
choice (m)
Questions & Answers about Direktor poštuje naš izbor, ali on ima svoj.
Why use svoj at the end instead of njegov (his)?
The word svoj is a reflexive possessive word, which means it refers back to the subject of its own clause. Since the subject of the second clause is on (he), using svoj means 'his own'. If you used njegov here, it would technically mean he has some other man's choice!
Why isn't naš (our) changed to svoj in the first part of the sentence?
You only use svoj when the owner is the same as the subject of the clause. In the first clause, the subject is Direktor (he), but the choice belongs to 'us'. Since the subject and the owner are different people, we use the normal word for 'our' (naš).
What case is svoj in, and what noun is it replacing?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb ima (has). It stands in for the phrase svoj izbor (his own choice). Because izbor is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form, which is why it stays as just svoj.
Why does the verb poštuje look so different from its dictionary form?
It comes from the verb poštovati (to respect). As a quick reminder, Croatian verbs that end in -ovati in their infinitive drop that ending and add -ujem, -uješ, -uje and so on in the present tense. For he, she, or it, it becomes poštuje.
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