AHA! Learning Croatian with Bob
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      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
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      • 010 Until you don't do it
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      • 016 I feel like crying!
      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
      • 018 Picking up place names by ear
      • 019 Where did the "j" go?
      • 020 Koliko kiše smo imali?
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      • 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
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      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
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Learning Croatian #022

Mi, mi, mi, mi

Four ways of using the Croatian word 'mi'
The little Croatian word 'mi' caused me lots of discombobulation because I was unaware of its multiple meanings .....

You read a sentence in Croatian that has in it the word ‘mi’. Easy peasy …. mi means we, doesn’t it.

Oh yeah … is that its only meaning? We novices need to keep an eye open for the traps set by the devious Croatian Language Commmittee.

I know of at least four meanings of the word ‘mi’, which I sumamrise in this video ...
Summary

The four ways in which the Croatian word ‘mi’ is used are:
  • The personal pronoun meaning we, in nominative case.
  • The short form of meni, the dative case of ja, meaning ‘to me’.
  • The short form of meni, the dative case of ja, to indicate emotions felt by me.
  • The short form of meni, the dative case of ja, to express possession (referred to as the dative-possessive case).
 

Addendum:
Since producing the video above; I have realised that the word 'mi' is used in at least one more way:
          Plače mi se     I feel like crying
          Spava mi se     (I feel like sleeping)
          Čita mi se tu knjigu     (I feel like reading that book)

This is a little like the third type listed (indicating emotions), but I think that linguists would categorise it differently.

In fact there are two
other posts that discuss this type of expression:
                    I feel like crying
                    I felt like crying, I will feel like crying


So, my title should have been Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi!

​
Addendum 2: When we cannot use the dative-possessive case
Imagine that you want to say, in Croatian, ‘My sister gave me a book.’ And that you use the dative-possessive form ‘Sestra mi’.

Then your Croatian sentence might be ‘Sestra mi mi je dala kjnigu.’ Croatians just don’t do that. You just can’t have side-by-side ‘mi’ (dative-possessive, meaning ‘my’) and ‘mi’ (dative, meaning ‘to me’).

The same applies if you wanted to say ‘My sister saw me.’ The Croatian sentence ‘Sestra mi me je vidjela’ is not acceptable.
​
Generalising, we can’t put the subject of a sentence in dative-possessive form when the verb describing its action is a transitive verb.



​Those of us learning Croatian need to be familiar enough with the language in everyday use to know immediately the appropriate meaning, without contemplation and stroking one's chin - while the interlocutor has moved on two sentences.

Getting there!


Do you want to test yourself?

In the audioclip below are 14 sentences, each of which has the word 'mi'. Do you understand them? Some are a challenge to me.

​The start button below has the label Download File. This is misleading. The audio file will not download into your computer directory. You will just access the file from the cloud.


​And to check ......
1.  Svi mi ćemo sutra ići u Zagreb.                      We will all go tomorrow to Zagreb.
2.  Hoćeš li mi kupiti sladoled?                            Will you buy me an ice cream?
3.  Bit će mi drago kad dođemo kući.                  I will be pleased when we come home.
4.  Brat mi ima prijateljicu.                                   My brother has a girlfriend.
5.  Baš mi je važno da ste mi to pokazali.           It is really important to me that you showed me that.
6.  Nije mi važno da mi je sat pokvaren.             It is not important to me that my watch is broken.
7.  Čini mi se da mu se mi ne sviđamo.              It seems to me that he doesn't like us.
8.  Šeta mi se dugo.                                            I feel like (going for) a long walk.
9.  Nismo mi pojeli kolače.                                  We didn’t eat the cakes.
10.  Teško mi je hodati toliko dugo.                     It is difficult for me to walk so far.
11.  Sestra mi je izašla van.                                My sister went out.
12.  Fali mi Miro.                                                 I miss Miro.
13.  Ova košulja mi ne paše.                              This shirt doesn’t suit me.
14. Ne čita mi se ta knjiga.                                 I don’t feel like reading that book.
 

How did you go?  Some were a challenge to me.
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AHA! Learning Croatian with Bob
​Correspondence: [email protected]
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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  • Home
    • TKO SAM JA? >
      • Posts 1 - 10 >
        • 001 The way we spoke
      • PHOTOS - SELFIES >
        • Selfies 1-10
        • Selfies 11-20
      • Photos - General >
        • Photos 1-10
    • Contacts
  • MISCELLANEOUS
    • Posts 1 -15 >
      • 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
      • 011 Nazvati nekoga, telefonirati nekomu
      • 012 If she were a man ....
      • 013 Streets with two names?
      • 015 Tri, četiri, sad!
    • Posts 16-30 >
      • 016 I feel like crying!
      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
      • 018 Picking up place names by ear
      • 019 Where did the "j" go?
      • 020 Koliko kiše smo imali?
      • 021 Požuri polako
      • 022 Mi, mi, mi, mi
      • 023 Why should we learn the grammar?
      • 024 Words for youngsters are neuter
    • EXPERIENCES >
      • EXPERIENCES: POSTS 1 - 15 HOME >
        • 001 Licitarska srca
        • 002 My Aussie accent
        • 003 The upside down SIM card
        • 004 Buying fritule in Split
        • 005 Jučer ili sutra?
        • 006 Što rade ućitelji?
    • VICEVI >
      • Vicevi: Page 1
    • CHALLENGES FOR YOU >
      • 001 Crossword puzzle 1
  • GRAMMAR
    • Posts 1 - 15 >
      • 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?
      • 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 >
      • NOUNS >
        • 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
      • VERBS >
        • 001 Transitive and intransitive verbs
        • 004 Conjugation types
  • SAYINGS
    • Posts 1 - 15 >
      • 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!
    • DAKLE, ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
      • 001 Ovako ....
      • 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)
      • 013 Još or više? (Time-related)
    • FRAZEOLOGIJA - HOME >
      • Based on NOUNS >
        • 001 RUKA
      • Based on VERBS >
        • 001 UZIMATI/UZETI
    • Vocab THEMES: HOME >
      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
      • 003 Uništiti
  • CROATIA
    • Republika Hrvatska: HOME >
      • 001 Anthem: LIJEPA NAŠA
      • 002 Map of Croatia
      • 003 Županije: The counties of Croatia
    • Where/What/Who is that? HOME >
      • Where/What/Who? Pages 1 - 15 >
        • 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 >
        • THE CITY >
          • 001 Zagreb cathedral
        • PEOPLE and CULTURE >
          • 001 Advent in Zagreb
          • 002 Interliber book fair
          • 004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb
          • 005 A night at the ballet
      • DALMACIJA: HOME >
        • BEING AND SPEAKING DALMATIAN: HOME >
          • 001 Molin?
          • 002 Eleven Dalmatian commandments
          • 003 Dalmatinski rječnik
      • Zagorje: HOME >
        • 001 Autumn tones
  • NAVIGATION
    • A ROAD MAP
    • INDEX, ALPHABETICAL