⚙️ 1 | 2 | Lekcija 3: Naše stvari – Gramatika

Dr. Frane Karabatić

Cjelina 1: Dobro došli!

⚙️ 1 | 2 | Lekcija 3: Naše stvari – Gramatika

WHO HAS WHAT?

James

♂️ Masculine plural nouns

Masculine nouns and some exceptions when forming the plural

As you may have noticed in this lesson when we talk about plural masculine nouns, some of these masculine nouns were a little bit different when plural:

James

Singular	Example	Plural	Example
	Ovo je... ⌚ sat		Ovo su... ⌚ ⌚ satovi
	Ovo je... 🔑 ključ		Ovo su... 🔑 🔑 ključevi
	Ovo je... 🗑️ koš		Ovo su... 🗑️ 🗑️ koševi
	Ovo je ... 🧑‍⚕️ liječnik		Ovo su... 🧑‍⚕️ 🧑‍⚕️ liječnici
	Ovo je... 👛 novčanik		Ovo su... 👛 👛 novčanici

You already know that masculine nouns in their singular form end in a consonant (student, laptop, kompjutor, etc.), and when we create the plural form for each of those nouns we just need to add -i (studenti, laptopi, kompjutori).

However, there are several subgroups of masculine nouns in the plural form:

Regular consonant ending (we already learned these): laptop, kompjutor, student.
Monosyllabic masculine nouns: stol, sat, koš, ključ.
Masculine nouns that end in -K: ruksak, udžbenik, novčanik.
Masculine nouns that have -a- before the final consonant ending: policajac, vatrogasac.

For now, we will look at Subgroup #2 and Subgroup #3.

Subgroup #2: One syllable nouns have an additional element before the plural ending

All one syllable masculine nouns that have a regular final consonant letter (like we have in English) will use the most common form of -ov- + -i.

[juice] 🧃 sok -- 🧃 🧃 sokovi

[bridge] 🌉 most -- 🌉 🌉 mostovi

[watch] ⌚ sat -- ⌚ ⌚ satovi

All one syllable masculine nouns that end in palatal consonants, or to say -- in one of the Croatian letters (č, ć, lj, nj, j, š, ž, đ , dž) will need to use -ev- + -i.

[wastebasket] 🗑️ koš -- 🗑️ 🗑️ koševi

[key] 🔑 ključ -- 🔑 🔑 ključevi

[dragon] 🐉 zmaj -- 🐉 🐉 zmajevi

[mouse] 🐁 miš -- 🐁 🐁 miševi

Subgroup #3: Nouns that end in -k

All masculine nouns that end in -k (ruksak, udžbenik, liječnik) undergo a certain sound change when creating a plural form. In other words, the final -k sound will become -c- before we add the final -i (k+i = ci) in the plural. For example:

[doctor] 🧑‍⚕️ liječnik --🧑‍⚕️ 🧑‍⚕️ liječnici

[book] 📙 udžbenik -- 📚 udžbenici

[backpack] 🎒 ruksak -- 🎒 🎒 ruksaci

❗ Note: Some nouns like to break the rules, but we’ll deal with those later. 🙃 For now, just stick with the basics and get comfortable with the main patterns.

👉 Whose is it?

Asking about ownership

Most likely, when you want to answer the question – Whose? (To whom does something belong?) - you will use a possessive pronoun (This is hers.) or a personal name (This is Ana’s book) in your answer. We are still far away from using personal names in this type of answer, so we will just focus on answering the question “Whose?” by using possessive pronouns (This is hers./ This is her book.). The tables below will show you the specific forms of these words.

SINGULAR -- masculine, feminine, neuter

Masculine: 🧳 Čiji je kovčeg?

Whose suitcase is this? Suitcase is masculine, thus “whose” has to be in the masculine form as well.

Feminine: 👚 Čija je majica?

Whose t-shirt is this? T-shirt is feminine, thus “whose” has to be in the feminine form as well.

Neuter: 📩 Čije je pismo?

Whose letter is this? Letter is neuter, thus “whose” has to be in the neuter form as well.

PLURAL -- masculine, feminine, neuter

Masculine: 📝 🗒️ Čiji su papiri?

Whose papers are these? Papers are masculine, thus “whose” has to be in the masculine plural form as well.

Feminine: 👠👠 Čije su cipele?

Whose shoes are these? Shoes are feminine, thus “whose” has to be in the feminine plural form as well.

Neuter: 📩 📩 Čija su pisma?

Whose letters are these? letters are neuter, thus “whose” has to be in the neuter plural form as well.

Remember that in your answer to any of these questions each possessive pronoun has to be in the same gender of the noun/question refers to. For example:

Čiji je sat? -- ⌚ To je moj sat. -- ⌚ ⌚ To su moji satovi.
Čija je knjiga? -- 📙 To je moja knjiga. -- 📗 📙 📘 To su moje knjige.
Čije je pismo? -- ✉️ To je moje pismo. -- ✉️ ✉️ To su moja pisma.

⚤ Possessive pronouns

Below you will find the forms for each possessive pronoun in all three genders and in the singular and plural form.

❗ Note: This is something that we will be working on throughout the semester. It is not necessary to memorize all forms now, but you will see a pattern between the possessive pronoun and a noun. Thus, it will be easy to use them. All possessive pronouns almost always have the identical ending form as the noun it describes.

Čiji - Čija - Čije je...? (singular)

JA	TI	ON	ONA	ONO
moj	tvoj	njegov	njezin	njegov
moja	tvoja	njegova	njezina	njegova
moje	tvoje	njegovo	njezino	njegovo

MI	VI	ONI	ONE	ONA
naš	vaš	njihov	njihov	njihov
naša	vaša	njihova	njihova	njihova
naše	vaše	njihovo	njihovo	njihovo

Čiji - Čije - Čija su...? (plural)

JA	TI	ON	ONA	ONO
moji	tvoji	njegovi	njezini	njegovi
moje	tvoje	njegove	njezine	njegove
moja	tvoja	njegova	njezina	njegova

MI	VI	ONI	ONE	ONA
naši	vaši	njihovi	njihovi	njihovi
naše	vaše	njihove	njihove	njihove
naša	vaša	njihova	njihova	njihova

Examples for “MY” (in all gender forms, singular and plural).

Singular: [m] Ovo je moj laptop. -- [f] Ovo je moja torba. -- [n] Ovo je moje ogledalo.
Plural: [m] Ovo su moji laptopi. -- [f] Ovo su moje torbe. -- [n] Ovo su moja ogledala.

1.2.3 Zadatak 1. Čije je?

Look at the following pictures and complete the task. In the first sentence, use the correct form of "whose." In the second sentence, choose the correct possessive pronoun based on the owner—James or Laura. Pay close attention to the gender of each noun and whether it’s singular or plural!

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