⚙️ 2 | 1 | Lekcija 1: Odakle si? – Gramatika

Dr. Frane Karabatić

Cjelina 2: Slobodno vrijeme

⚙️ 2 | 1 | Lekcija 1: Odakle si? – Gramatika

Where from?

When we want to ask someone where they are from, we use the question: Odakle si? (Where are you from?).

Odakle si?

Ja sam + IZ + (genitive case)

Nominative vs. Genitive endings

Gender	Nominative	Genitive
masculine	grad	grad–a
feminine	država	držav–e
neuter	selo	sel–a

To answer the question Odakle si?, we use the structure: Ja sam iz… (I am from…). What follows after this sentence structure can be the name of a country or a city. For example, Ja sam iz Texasa. / Ja sam iz Austina. The preposition iz in the sentence will trigger the use of the Genitive case. Here are some other examples: Ja sam iz Hrvatske. / Ja sam iz Portugala.

The two countries listed above – Portugal (Portugal) and Hrvatska (Croatia) – have a different grammatical gender. Portugal has masculine gender, and Hrvatska has feminine gender. That is why their endings differ.

Gender	Nominative	Genitive
masculine	Portugal	Portugal–a
feminine	Hrvatska	Hrvatsk–e
neuter	Kosovo	Kosov–a

In Croatian, all countries will be either masculine or feminine gender. Kosovo is the exception that has neuter gender associated with the name of the country. Other countries that end in -o / -e / -u will have masculine gender (see some examples below).

▶️ Most of the time cities will have feminine or masculine gender. Some exceptions exist: Sarajevo and Oslo are neuter gender, while Tokio is masculine gender. See more examples below.

Gender	Nominative	Genitive
masculine	Zagreb	Zagreb–a
feminine	Pula	Pul–e
neuter	Sarajevo	Sarajev–a

🇭🇷 Countries

Most country names in Croatian are feminine gender.

Države	Države	Države
🇭🇷 Hrvatska	🇩🇪 Njemačka	🇳🇴 Norveška
🇮🇹 Italija	🇧🇦 Bosna i Hercegovina	🇲🇪 Crna Gora

A certain number of countries are in masculine gender. Countries that take masculine gender can be divided into several categories.

Group #1

Countries that have consonant endings have masculine gender

🇯🇵 Japan	🇧🇷 Brazil	🇵🇹 Portugal	🇮🇷 Iran
Ja sam iz Japana.	Ja sam iz Brazila.	Ja sam iz Portugala.	Ja sam iz Irana.

Group #2

Countries that end in -o / -e / -u, but still masculine gender

Not all countries that are masculine gender end in a consonant. For example: Meksiko je lijep i zanimljiv. Look at the following list (just as an example) of countries/states that are masculine gender:

🇲🇦 Maroko	🇲🇽 Meksiko	🇹🇬 Togo	🇲🇨 Monako
Ja sam iz Maroka.	Ja sam iz Meksika.	Ja sam iz Toga.	Ja sam iz Monaka.

Group # 3

Some spelling modifications

🇺🇲 Ohio	🇵🇪 Peru	🇨🇱 Čile	🇺🇲 Kentucky
Ja sam iz Ohija.	Ja sam iz Perua.	Ja sam iz Čilea.	Ja sam iz Kentuckyja.

🏙️ Cities

Cities can be in any of the three genders — masculine, feminine, or neuter. Let’s look closely.

1️⃣ Some city names are feminine gender, such as:

🇬🇷 Atena	🇷🇺 Moskva	🇪🇸 Barcelona	🇸🇰 Bratislava
Ja sam iz Atene.	Ja sam iz Moskve.	Ja sam iz Barcelone.	Ja sam iz Bratislave.

2️⃣ Some city names are masculine gender (consonant ending), such as:

🇮🇹 Rim	🇫🇷 Pariz	🇵🇹 Lisabon	🇭🇷 Zagreb
Ja sam iz Rima.	Ja sam iz Pariza.	Ja sam iz Lisabona.	Ja sam iz Zagreba.

However, not all cities that have masculine gender will end in a consonant. They might end in -o, -e, -u or -i but still have masculine gender. Look at the following list (just as an example) of cities that have masculine gender. some of them also have some spelling modification.

🇺🇲 Chicago	🇺🇲 San Francisco	🇺🇲 Miami	🇺🇲 Honolulu
Ja sam iz Chicaga.	Ja sam iz San Francisca.	Ja sam iz Miamija.	Ja sam iz Honolulua.

3️⃣ Finally, some cities will have neuter gender.

🇳🇴 Oslo	🇧🇦 Sarajevo	🇲🇰 Skoplje
Ja sam iz Osla.	Ja sam iz Sarajeva.	Ja sam iz Skoplja.

🏖️ Islands

If we want to say that someone is from one of the Croatian islands (or any other island), we need to follow this sentence structure:

Odakle si? — Ja sam + S + (genitive case)

❗ Remember: When talking about someone who is originally from any island (not just Croatian), we use the preposition “s” – NOT the preposition “iz.”

🇭🇷 Krk	🇭🇷 Brač	🇭🇷 Vis
Ja sam s Krka.	Ja sam s Brača.	Ja sam s Visa.

🇦🇼 Aruba	🇯🇲 Jamajka	🇮🇸 Island
Ja sam s Arube.	Ja sam s Jamajke.	Ja sam s Islanda.

S + island (even if the island is a country itself)
IZ + country/state/city (some exceptions do exist)

Exceptions (some examples)

We need to use the preposition “s” even though these are states/countries/peninsulas and not islands.

🇺🇲 Florida	🇺🇲 Aljaska	🇽🇰 Kosovo	🇭🇷 Pelješac (peninsula)
Ja sam s Floride.	Ja sam s Aljaske.	Ja sam s Kosova.	Ja sam s Pelješca.

We need to use the preposition “iz” even though the countries are islands.

🇯🇵 Japan	🇦🇺 Australija	🇮🇪 Irska	🇬🇧 Velika Britanija
Ja sam iz Japana.	Ja sam iz Australije.	Ja sam iz Irske	Ja sam iz Velike Britanije

🇧🇸 Countries (plural)

Some countries/states have their official names in the plural form. Look at the following examples:

🇵🇭 Filipini	🇺🇲 Havaji	🇲🇻 Maldivi	🇧🇸 Bahami
Ja sam s Filipina.	Ja sam s Havaja.	Ja sam s Maldiva.	Ja sam s Bahama.

The countries/states that are in plural form will:

use the preposition “s” instead of “iz” (because they are islands)
will have the ending “-a” (because they are masculine plural form)

👨‍💻 Practice

What did we learn?

2.1.1 Zadatak 1: Odakle su?

Look at the following pictures of famous people and tell us where they are from.

2.1.1 Zadatak 2: Poznati ljudi

Look at the following pictures of famous people and tell us where they are from.

Countries	Countries	Countries
Portugal	Brazil	Japan
SAD	Egipat	Čile

2.1.1 Zadatak 3: On je / ona je… 🇧🇸 🇦🇼 🇯🇲 🇮🇸

Look at the following pictures of famous people and tell us where they are from.

☰ The verb MORATI

The verb morati will change its form based on the subject of the sentence (remember the verb biti and how it changes its form, same rule applies here). Just as in English, the verb morati (“need to”) will always be followed by another verb. In today’s lesson you encountered the structure – moram posjetiti (I need to visit). As you can see, the verb morati cannot stay on its own. In the table below you will see which endings are associated with which persons (i.e., subjects/subject pronouns).