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Learning Croatian: 006 Za četiri dana na dva dana

1/5/2019

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In four days, for two days ........

​Za četiri dana na dva dana?     or     Na četiri dana za dva dana?

       
​
Last year I went to Zastražišće on the island Hvar, where my father was born.
 
I knew that I would see my cousin Ante (who lives in
Zastražišće), so before I left home, I bought a present for him.

Kupio sam poklon za njega. I bought a present for him. 

So za means “for”. Right?


Well I did indeed meet Ante. As I was leaving, he suggested that I might like to meet him and some friends a few days later in the lovely coastal town of Zavala.

Of course I accepted the invitation, so he gave me the name of the place where they had rooms booked (Pension Šimić), and said …
​
            Idemo za četiri dana na dva dana.
​
I am top of this language. Got it! They will be going for four days, in two days from now.”  [Uh, uh ...]
 
That was on Tuesday, so on Thursday I drove down to Zavala and checked in to Pension Šimić.

But Ante and his friends did not arrive that night. Strange!

Nor the next night. Even more strange!

So I asked the owner, Mate Šimić, if he knew what was happening. He told me that they were booked to arrive on Saturday. Što se dogodilo?

And indeed, they came on Saturday.
​
I asked Ante in frustration “Di si bi?”
[I was doing my best to speak the local island dialect, although those of you learning Croatian would know that the official wording is “Gdje si bio?”]

Ante: Ma što je? Rekao sam ti da ću ići za četiri dana na dva dana.
Me: Točno! Onda zašto niste došli u četvrtak? Why didn’t you come on Thursday?
Ante: Kao što sam ti rekao, …………..
Me: Onda zašto niste došli u četvrtak?
​
After a few cycles of obvious miscommunication, we decided to forget about it, and go and enjoy ourselves fishing and eating and talking and laughing ....


Not until I arrived back in Zagreb a week later did my teacher Mateja (SpeakCro) point out to me that:

            za četiri dana  means “in four days” (from now) – and not “for four days”!
            na dva dana  means “for (the duration of ) two days.

It’s somewhat curious and counter-intuitive for the English speaker, isn’t it? Again!
 
Never mind, there is always an upside …. Because I was there on my own for a couple of days, I went for a walk along the coast in the evenings, and saw the most gorgeous sunset.
 
This is apparently a very common sight from this part of the island.

Za dvije godine vratit ću se na četiri tjedna.

No, I will not be staying for two years, four weeks from now!

​

 
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  • HOME
    • Navigation: A ROAD MAP
    • Contacts
  • LEARNING CROATIAN
    • 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!
      • 008 Sretan rođendan ti
      • 009 Na kavu, po kavu, za kavu?
      • 010 Until you don't do it
    • CROATIAN: Posts 11 - 20 >
      • 011 Nazvati nekoga, telefonirati nekomu
      • 012 If she were a man ....
      • 013 Streets with two names?
      • 015 Tri, četiri, sad!
      • 016 I feel like crying!
      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
    • DAKLE ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
      • 001 Ovako!
      • 002 Je l' tako?
      • 003 Tako je!
      • 004 Izvoli! Izvolite!
      • 005 Eto!
    • CHALLENGES FOR YOU >
      • 001 Crossword puzzle 1
  • GRAMMAR
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      • 001 Where are the pronouns?
      • 002 Padeži and noun endings
      • 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?
    • GRAMMAR POSTS 11 - 20 >
      • 011 Declension of place names
    • GRAMMAR TITBITS - HOME >
      • 001 Dati - dativ
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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
      • 005 Declension of regular nouns
  • SAYINGS
    • SAYINGS: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Ne daj se!
      • 002 U tom grmu leži zec!
      • 003 Baš me briga!
      • 004 Mačji kašalj!
      • 005 Što je, tu je!
      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
      • 007 Na licu mjesta
      • 008 Sve si to ti kriv!
  • VOCAB
    • Vocabulary: POSTS 1 - 10 >
      • 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?
    • Vocab THEMES: HOME >
      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
  • STUFF
    • STUFF: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Bookara
      • 002 Crossies?
      • 003 Jučer ili sutra?
      • 004 Ućitelji
      • 005 Požuri polako
      • 006 Kakav stil!
      • 007 The people of Magorje
      • 008 Where did the "j" go?
      • 009 koliko je kiše 50 litara po kvadratom metru?
      • 010 The dark side of the moon
    • Vicevi (Jokes)
  • EXPERIENCES
    • EXPERIENCES: POSTS 1 - 10 HOME >
      • 001 Licitarska srca
      • 002 My Aussie accent
      • 003 The upside down SIM card
      • 004 Buying fritule in Split
  • ABOUT CROATIA
    • Republika Hrvatska: HOME >
      • 001 Anthem: LIJEPA NAŠA
      • 002 Map of Croatia
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    • Where/What/Who is that? HOME >
      • Where/What/Who? Pages 1 - 10 >
        • 001 A girl and a bird
        • 002 His left foot
        • 003 A rebel
        • 004 Čuvarica Omiša
        • 005 Giorgio or Juraj?
        • 006 Tovar and friend
        • 007 Up on high
        • 008 On an island
        • 009 Water wonderland
    • REGIONS, CITIES, TOWNS: HOME >
      • ZAGREB: HOME >
        • 001 Zagreb cathedral
        • 002 Advent in Zagreb
        • 003 Interliber book fair
        • 004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb
      • Dalmacija: HOME >
        • BEING AND SPEAKING DALMATIAN: HOME >
          • 001 Molin?
          • 002 Eleven Dalmatian commandments
          • Dalmatinski rječnik HOME >
            • Keywords A - J
            • Keywords K - N
            • Keywords O - R
            • Keywords S - Ž
            • English to Dalmatian
      • Zagorje: HOME >
        • 001 Autumn tones
    • SPORT: HOME
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      • 001 A night at the ballet
  • TKO SAM JA?
    • Tko sam ja? Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 The way we spoke