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006 Country names: Some nouns, and some adjectives

14/3/2020

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In Croatian, the names of the countries of the world are either nouns or adjectives. They are listed below.
 
Country names which are nouns:
Listed here, in alphabetical order according to the English names, are the Croatian names that are nouns. Some are masculine nouns (indicated by (m) for muški rod), and some are feminine nouns (ending with –a, and indicated by (ž) for ženski rod).

The gender of the names is important because it decides their declination – that is, how the endings of the names change, according to the role of the name in sentences. For example:
​

               Nominative:         Australia is a large country.             Australija je velika zemlja.
               Accusative:          I am going to Australia                     Idem u Australiju.

The declination of place names can be tricky for us novice Croatian speakers, and is the subject of another blog: Declination of place names (Not yet posted).

          Afghanistan                        Afganistan (m)
          Albania                                Albanija (ž)
          Algiers                                 Alžir (m)
          America                               Amerika (ž)
          Andorra                               Andora (ž)
          Angola                                 Angola (ž)
          Argentina                            Argentina (ž)
          Austria                                 Austrija (ž)
          Bangladesh                         Bangladeš (m)
          Belgium                               Belgija (ž)
          Bosnia and Hercegovina   Bosna i Hercegovina (ž)
          Brazil                                   Brazil (m)
          Burma                                 Burma (ž)
          Canada                                Kanada (ž)
          China                                   Kina (ž)
          Columbia                             Kolumbija (ž)
          Costa Rica                           Kostarika (ž)
          Cuba                                    Kuba (ž)
          Cyprus                                 Cipar (m)
          Chile                                    Čile (m)
          Egypt                                   Egipat (m)
          Ethiopia                               Etiopija (ž)
          Gambia                                Gambija (ž)
          Ghana                                  Gana (ž)
          Great Britain                       Velika Britanija (ž)
          Haiti                                     Haiti (m)
          Hawaii                                  Havaji (m)  Plural!
          India                                     Indija (ž)
          Indonesia                            Indonezija (ž)
          Iraq                                      Irak (m)
          Iran                                      Iran (m)
          Iceland                                Island (m)
          Italy                                     Italija (ž)
          Israel                                   Izrael (m)
          Japan                                   Japan (m)
          Jordan                                 Jordan (m)
          Kenya                                  Kenija (ž)
          Korea                                   Koreja (ž)
          Lebanon                              Libanon (m)
          Libya                                    Libija (ž)
          Luxemburg                         Luksemburg (m)
          Macedonia                          Makedonija (ž)
          Malaysia                              Malezija (ž)
          Malta                                   Malta (ž)
          Morocco                              Maroko (m)
          Mexico                                Meksiko (m)
          Mongolia                             Mongolija (ž)
          Montenegro                        Crna Gora (ž)
          Nepal                                   Nepal (m)
          New Zealand                       Novi Zeland (m)
          Nigeria                                 Nigerija (ž)
          Pakistan                              Pakistan (m)
          Palestine                             Palestina (ž)
          Paraguay                             Paragvay (ž)
          Peru                                     Peru (m)
          Philippines                          Filipini (m)
          Portugal                               Portugal (m)
          Russia                                  Rusija (ž)
          Salvador                              Salvador (m)
          Senegal                               Senegal (m)
          Serbia                                  Srbija (ž)
          Slovenia                               Slovenija (ž)
          Somalia                               Somalija (ž)
          Syria                                     Sirija (ž)
          Sudan                                  Sudan (m)
          Thailand                               Tajland (m)
          Tunis                                    Tunis (m)
          Uruguay                               Urugvaj (m)
          Vietnam                                Vijetnam (m)

Country names which are adjectives

You may have looked for some names in the list above, and not been able to find them. For example, Croatia is not there. That is because these names are adjectives and I have put them into a different list, below.

These names are characterised by the endings –ska, -ška, and -čka,and are all feminine nouns – Examples are Hrvatska, Norveška, and  Njemačka.

You might ask, as I do, why these country names have the feminine ending –ska (and not masculine –ski, or neuter –sko). I can only think that, since the Croatian word for “country” is zemlja, a name like Hrvatska has evolved from Hrvatska Zemlja.

Actually, I should be more careful with my description of a name like Hrvatska as an adjective. A good friend of mine, Marina, once scolded me severely for saying that Hrvatska is an adjective. "No", she said, "it is a noun. But in sentences it declines like an adjective". Language is not objective!

 
          Bulgaria                               Bugarska
          Croatia                                 Hrvatska
          Czech Republic                   Češka
          Denmark                              Danska
          England                               Engleska
          Finland                                Finska
          France                                  Francuska
          Germany                              Njemačka
          Greece                                 Grčka
          Holland                                Nizozemska
          Hungary                              Mađarska
          Ireland                                 Irska
          Norway                                Norveška
          Poland                                 Poljska
          Romania                              Rumunjska
          Scotland                              Škotska
          Slovakia                               Slovačka
          Spain                                    Španjolska
          Sweden                               Švedska
          Switzerland                         Švicarska
          Turkey                                 Turska
​
​The way that these names change in sentences is also the subject matter of the blog Declension of place names.

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    • CROATIAN: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Kosa, koza, koža
      • 002 Pronouncing 'au'
      • 003 Can language influence behaviour?
      • 004 First day of the week
      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
      • 006 Za četiri dana, na dva dana
      • 007 My brain becomes full!
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      • 007 Going and coming: u-iz, but na-sa
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        • 008 On an island
        • 009 Water wonderland
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