Miscellaneous items #023
Why should we learn the grammar?
How many reasons do you need?
Every now and then, like five times a day, I realise that I misunderstood either speech or text because I didn’t know some aspect of grammar.
Well, when I say I didn’t know it, perhaps I might actually have passed a written test of translation from English into Croatian, but it is not such a part of me (yet) that I engage with it spontaneously when listening or reading.
It’s not so bad when writing, because we can take our time and think about it. And not go further in a sentence until we want to.
What a pity that Croatian speakers don’t turn on a flashing light at every noun, pronoun, and verb to alert us, and then ask us if we are ready to on to the next few words!
Anyway, here are a few examples of my misunderstandings ……
Well, when I say I didn’t know it, perhaps I might actually have passed a written test of translation from English into Croatian, but it is not such a part of me (yet) that I engage with it spontaneously when listening or reading.
It’s not so bad when writing, because we can take our time and think about it. And not go further in a sentence until we want to.
What a pity that Croatian speakers don’t turn on a flashing light at every noun, pronoun, and verb to alert us, and then ask us if we are ready to on to the next few words!
Anyway, here are a few examples of my misunderstandings ……
1. Who is waiting for who?
A supporter group of the Dinamo Zagreb (soccer) football club are referred to as the Bad Blue Boys – and in short, ‘Boysi’.
At the time of writing this post, a group of these supporters had got into some strife in Athens and were held in custody pending investigations.
Here is a part of a photo that appeared on the front cover of the Jutarnji List newspaper the next day.
At the time of writing this post, a group of these supporters had got into some strife in Athens and were held in custody pending investigations.
Here is a part of a photo that appeared on the front cover of the Jutarnji List newspaper the next day.
What are the Boys waiting for? NO!
Simple enough ….. ‘What are the Boys waiting for?’
Ma, samo malo …….. [thinking analytically ……] If some Boys (plural) are waiting for something, the verb should be ‘čekaju’. What’s going on?
And not only that, ……. Why are they called Boyse, rather than Boysi!?
Well, hang on, Boyse is probably the accusative case of Boysi. Aha! The boys are the object of waiting (the waitees), not the waiters!
Oh, yeah …. Got it! What is waiting for the Boys? What is awaiting the Boys?
If the intended question were ‘What are the Boys waiting for?’ the caption would have read ‘Što čekaju Boysi?’ or ‘Što Boysi čekaju?’
Ma, samo malo …….. [thinking analytically ……] If some Boys (plural) are waiting for something, the verb should be ‘čekaju’. What’s going on?
And not only that, ……. Why are they called Boyse, rather than Boysi!?
Well, hang on, Boyse is probably the accusative case of Boysi. Aha! The boys are the object of waiting (the waitees), not the waiters!
Oh, yeah …. Got it! What is waiting for the Boys? What is awaiting the Boys?
If the intended question were ‘What are the Boys waiting for?’ the caption would have read ‘Što čekaju Boysi?’ or ‘Što Boysi čekaju?’
The difference can seem almost hidden to the non-Croatian, but obvious to the locals.
Can you imagine how long it took me to read the whole newspaper! And how many times I mistakenly thought things like ‘the dog patted the old lady’? And didn’t realise that I had it wrong!
Can you imagine how long it took me to read the whole newspaper! And how many times I mistakenly thought things like ‘the dog patted the old lady’? And didn’t realise that I had it wrong!
Thinking aloud …. Suppose there were only one boy.
How would we say, in Croatian ‘What is the boy waiting for?’
And how would we say ‘What is awaiting the boy?
Just saying …. I guess, as is so often the case, it comes down to context?
More examples ....
Just after publishing this page, I saw in the Jutarnji List newspaper a statement about serious wildfires on the Spanish island of Teneriffe.
[Just in case ...., the verb pogoršavati means to make worse (the opposite of pobolšavati.]
[Just in case ...., the verb pogoršavati means to make worse (the opposite of pobolšavati.]
According to the article: Situaciju pogoršava ekstremna vrućina.
So, the situation is making the extreme heat worse? No, although that is not an unreasonable occurrence.
Ekstremna vrućina is in the nominative case, and situaciju is in the accusative.
So ....The extreme heat worsened the situation.
Mind you, it would help if Croatians put the words in sentences in the same order that we English-speakers do. When will they learn!?
Ekstremna vrućina is in the nominative case, and situaciju is in the accusative.
So ....The extreme heat worsened the situation.
Mind you, it would help if Croatians put the words in sentences in the same order that we English-speakers do. When will they learn!?
Getting around
You can browse or search this website in the following ways:
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 website 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.
AHA! Learning Croatian with Bob
Correspondence: [email protected]
Correspondence: [email protected]