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GRAMMAR:  005 Declensions of Tko? and Što?

7/1/2019

1 Comment

 

Croatian grammar #005

The declensions of ‘Tko?’ and ‘Što?’

From my first day of learning Croatian, I have been told about the importance of certain questions that can define the different cases of nouns and pronouns. 

A table of these questions is presented in the Grammar reference section of this website (Questions that define the case of nouns) and reproduced here:


Picture
I have been confused about what this means, but my current teacher Mateja at SpeakCro has pointed out that these questions are not the only criteria that define the cases: after all, surely locative case is most characteristically defined by the question Gdje?

But, Aha! Blow me down (an Australianism), I have just realised that those on the left are the declensions, according to case, of the nominative question “Tko?” 

And those on the right are the declined forms of the question “Što?” 

​Now I am coming to see how fundamental the words in this table are to any conversation, and particularly to every question that I ask. Strewth! (Guess where that comes from ….).
​
Bear with me while I clarify my own understanding of the importance of the nominative questions “Tko?” and “Što”. Aha!

​When I use the nominative forms of these questions, the answer is also in the nominative case. Some examples, with sample answers are …….


             Q.        Tko je to? (Who is that?)                       Ans.        To je Ivan.
            Q.        Tko dolaze? (Who is coming?)              Ans.        Marta dolaze.
            Q.        Što je to? (What is that?)                       Ans.        To je časa.
            Q.        Što je plav? (What is blue?)                   Ans.        Lopta je plava

​

And now I see for the first time that the answer to my question directly replaces the words “Tko?” or “Što?” in the answer.
​
For example, in the first answer, “Ivan” has replaced “Tko” in the question.

Kužim! I’m so close to mastery of learning Croatian!  :-)

And what about in all the other cases (genitiv, dativ, akuzativ, lokativ, instrumental) – especially when they are used in more complex text?


I have made up a short story in which there are answers to “Tko?” in all six cases (not vokativ):

Marinela je odlučila ići u Hrvatsku. Išla je sa sinom Zoranom u Zadar. U avionu, Zoran je sjedio pokraj velikog muškarca i je mislio o starom ocu koji nije mogao doći. Oni su posjetili Marinelinu mamu i Zoran je dao poklon bratiću Nenadu.
​

​Can you recognise the six cases?

If we want to question (interrogate) somebody about who is does what, we need to ask with the appropriate form of “tko”, according to case.

In the order that they appear in the text, here are the questions, with answers (also in forms appropriate to the case):

Nominativ:       Q. Tko je odlučio ići u Hrvatsku?            Ans. Marinela.
 
Instrumental:    Q. S kim je išla Marinela?                      Ans. Sa sinom Zoranom.
 
Genitiv:             Q. Pokraj koga je sjedio Zoran?            Ans. Pokraj velikog muškarca.
 
Lokativ:             Q. O komu je Zoran mislio u avionu?    Ans. O starom ocu.
 
Akuzativ:          Q. Koga su posjetili?                               Ans. Marinelinu mamu.
 
Dativ:                Q. Komu je Zoran dao poklon?              Ans. Bratiću Nenadu.


I now realise that when the pronoun “Tko” is used in this questioning way, it is called an interrogative pronoun (upitna zamenica).

Such was the information overload (for my little mind) before I came to Mateja that I didn’t realise that “tko”, and its case-dependent forms, can have a different role in sentences: when it is a so-called relational pronoun (odnosna zamenica).

In another post I’ll talk about odnosne zamenice.
 
Of course, there is a corresponding set of interrogative pronouns which are the declensions of “Što?”
            Nominative:     Što je to?
            Genitive:          Ispred čega je pas?
            Dative:             Čemu služi?
            Accusative:       Što vidiš?
            Locative:          O čemu razgovarate?
            Instrumental:    Čime si otvorio limenku?





Hočete li malo vježbe?

Here are some questions, with answers, about a situation. Can you describe the situation? 
​
Q.        Tko je išao u šetnju?                               Ans.     Mirjana i Slavica.
Q.        Iza koga su šetale?                                 Ans.     Iza stare žene.
Q.        Komu su dale malo vode?                       Ans.     Staroj ženi.
Q.        Koga je pitala stara žena koliko je sati?  Ans:     Mirjanu i Slavicu.
Q.        O komu su razgovarale?                         Ans.     O Branimiru i Tomislavu.
Q.        S kim sada žive Branimir i Tomislav?      Ans.     Sa svojom majkom.

​


​
​


​There is not a unique answer. Here is one possible description of the situation.


Mirjana i Slavica su išle u šetnju. Šetale su iza stare žene. Dale su joj malo vode, i ona ih je pitala koliko je sati. Mirjana i Slavica su razgovarale o Branimiru i Tomislavu koji sada žive sa svojom majkom.


And just in case ….

Mirjana i Slavica [nominativ] su išle u šetnju. Šetale su iza stare žene [genitiv]. Dale su joj [dativ] malo vode, i ona ih [akuzativ] je pitala koliko je sati. Mirjana i Slavica su razgovarale o Branimiru i Tomislavu [lokativ] koji sada žive sa svojom majkom [instrumental].

​


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​
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1 Comment
Daniel N. link
16/11/2021 07:55:09

Just a small comment. Likely kome is more common than komu, you will mostly read and hear o kome etc.

You should realize dative and locative have merged in modern language, paying attention which is which serves no purpose.

Also, the Croatian term is zamjenica :)

Reply



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Getting around

You can browse or search this website in the following ways:
  • Use the drop-down menus from the buttons at the top of each page to browse page titles.
  • Click to go to the ROAD MAP (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
  • Click to go to the ALPHABETICAL INDEX. (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
  • Enter a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of each page.​​




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      • 004 First day of the week
      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
      • 006 Za četiri dana, na dva dana
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      • 008 Sretan rođendan ti
      • 009 Na kavu, po kavu, za kavu?
      • 010 Until you don't do it
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      • 012 If she were a man ....
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      • 003 Endings of pronouns and adjectives
      • 004 "u" ili "na" ?
      • 005 The declensions of Tko? and Što?
      • 006 Ja sam na Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića
      • 007 Going and coming: u-iz, but na-sa
      • 008 Sav - All, every
      • 009 Number of subjects and the verb 'biti'
      • 010 Koga nazoveš? Komu telefoniraš?
      • 011 Declension of place names
      • 012 Dati - dativ
      • 013 Verb endings: Who is the doer?
      • 014 Sibilarization and palatalization
      • 015 Iotation (jotacija)
    • Grammar: Posts 16-30 >
      • 016 Vodice su grad u Hrvatskoj
    • Grammar reference section >
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        • 001 Questions that define the case of nouns
        • 002 All nouns have gender
        • 003 Nouns in the nominative case
        • 004 Nouns: Declension categories
        • 004a A universal declension table?
        • 005 Declension of regular masculine nouns
        • 006 Declension of regular feminine nouns
        • 008 Masculine plural - infix or not?
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        • 001 Transitive and intransitive verbs
        • 004 Conjugation types
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      • 004 Mačji kašalj!
      • 005 Što je, tu je!
      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
      • 007 Na licu mjesta
      • 008 Sve si to ti kriv!
    • DAKLE, ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
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      • 002 Je l' tako?
      • 003 Tako je!
      • 004 Izvoli! Izvolite!
      • 005 Eto!
  • VOCABULARY
    • POSTS 1 - 15 >
      • 001 Even dying is not easy!
      • 002 To laugh or to smile?
      • 003 Nahraniti, sahraniti .... schmahraniti
      • 004 Prefixes that modify verb meanings
      • 005 Prefixes on base verb stati
      • 006 Country names - noun or adjective?
      • 007 Names of towns: A grammatical nightmare
      • 008 Countries: What do we call their citizens?
      • 009 Baš
      • 010 What a joke! vic or šala?
      • 011 Čak
      • 012 Još or više? (More of something)
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      • 001 GOVORITI verbs
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      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
      • 003 Uništiti
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