C9 M1 L2 Grammar
9 | Modul 1: Gramatika
Možeš ti to!
9 | 1 | Lekcija 2: Dnevni ritam
| Activities and repetition
When we want to express that we do something regularly (i.e., an action that repeats on certain days/times), we need to use the Instrumental case. As you can see in today’s lesson (dialogue four), Luka said: Ponedjeljkom, srijedom i petkom je košarka, a utorkom i četvrtkom nogomet.
In that sentence, the days are expressed in the Instrumental case, which indicates that the action of playing basketball repeats regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. While soccer is usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
When we express the meaning of repeating an action on a certain day, it is also very common to use words such as često (often), ponekad (sometimes), or nikada (never) in the sentence. Remember that when we use nikada we also need to use the negative particlene. For example: Ja nikada ne igram nogomet vikendom.
Look at the following examples and note the difference in their meanings:
U subotu idem u park. | Subotom idem u park. |
U subotu (preposition accusative) | (instrumental) |
This Saturday I [will] go to the park. | On Saturdays I go to the park. |
| Reflexive verbs
You already encountered reflexive verbs throughout the previous units. However, now we will look at some of them that have irregular forms (i.e. those that use different types of endings based on their infinitive form).
In this lesson you encountered regular verbs whose forms change based on the regular -ati or -iti endings. However, you also encountered some verbs that will change their forms differently than what we would think based on their infinitive endings. Let’ss look at both groups more closely.
| Group 1: Regular (expected) endings
–ati verbs | Word order – with a personal pronoun | Word order – without a personal pronoun |
češljati se | ja se češljam | češljam se |
umivati se | ja se umivam | umivam se |
tuširati se | ja se tuširam | tuširam se |
šminkati se | ja se šminkam | šminkam se |
–iti verbs | Word order – with a personal pronoun | Word order – without a personal pronoun |
buditi se | ja se budim | budim se |
oblačiti se | ja se oblačim | oblačim se |
| Group 2: Irregular (unexpected) endings
These verbs use a different set of endings than what their infinitive ending would suggest.
–ati verbs | Word order – with a personal pronoun | Word order – without a personal pronoun |
brijati se | ja se brijem | brijem se |
prati se | ja se perem | perem se |
Verb brijati se: when we cut the infinitive ending -ati, what is left is brij–. Thus, since the infinitive stem ends in -j- (one of the Croatian palatal letters), we need to use the endings -em, -eš, -e, etc.
BRIJATI SE | |||||
SINGULAR | PLURAL | ||||
ja | brij-em se | mi | brij-emo se | ||
ti | brij-eš se | vi | brij-ete se | ||
on/-a/-o | brij-e se | oni/-e/-a | brij-u se | ||
Verb prati se: when we cut the infinitive ending -ati, what is left is pr–. Thus, since the infinitive stem has only one syllable composed of two consonants, we need to add -e- between pr– (for easier pronunciation) and then add the endings -em, -eš, -e, etc.
PRATI SE | |||||
SINGULAR | PLURAL | ||||
ja | p-e-r-em se | mi | p-e-r-emo se | ||
ti | p-e-r-eš se | vi | p-e-r-ete se | ||
on/-a/-o | p-e-r-e se | oni/-e/-a | p-e-r-u se | ||
| Reflexive or not? When to use them?
All of the above verbs can be reflexive verbs or just the regular verb. The difference is:
Reflexive verb | It means the action is on us. The subject of the verb is also its object. We are the ones who take a shower (tuširati se), put on makeup (šminkati se), wake up (buditi se), etc. |
NOT reflexive verb | It means the subject (of the verb) performs the action on something or someone else (i.e., the subject and object of the verb are different). |
| Let’s look at the following sentence: | |
Ja se perem ujutro. | I shower (myself) in the morning. |
Ja perem zube ujutro. | I brush my teeth in the morning. |
Ja se uvijek budim u 7:00. | I always wake up at 7am. |
Ja budim sestru u 7:00 svaki dan. | I wake my sister up at 7am every day. |
Ja se češljam ujutro. | I comb my hair (myself) in the morning. |
Ja češljam sestru ujutro. | I comb my sister’s hair in the morning. |
Ja se šminkam svaki dan. | I put on makeup every day. |
Ja šminkam sestru svaki dan. | I put makeup on my sister every day. |
As you can see, all the sentences that DON’T have a reflexive verb use the Accusative case, indicating that the person performing the action is performed on someone/something else.
G | 9.1 Zadatak 3. Što radiš? |
Look at the following pictures. Indicate whether the verb is reflexive or not. Then, write the correct form in present tense in the JA form.
Šminkati se – šminkati
Gledati se – gledati
Prati se – prati
Češljati se – češljati
Brijati se – brijati
Tuširati se – tuširati
Buditi se – buditi
Oblačiti se – oblačiti
