About Croatia

Where/What/Who is that?

Click on the links below to go to the collections of challenges (10 to a webpage):

           Where/What/Who is that?     HOME

​                    Posts 1 - 15     HOME
                    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

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​The header picture

There are no prizes for guessing where this statue is. It is perhaps the most iconic representation of Croatia. Anybody who is learning Croatian surely is familiar with this statue.

And who is the guy? He must be pretty famous to occupy the main spot in the main square of the main city of Croatia! What did he do to deserve this?

He looks quite fierce, eh! If I saw him galloping toward me, I would run like the wind. And maybe others long ago felt the same emotion .... Maybe that is why he is famous

Let's use this statue for a little discussion of Croatian language. After all, learning Croatian was the wellspring for this website.

Well, he was ban Josip Jelačić.    What does 'ban' mean?

Isn't it interesting that in Croatian "ban" is used with a lower case "b" (unless it is the first word of a sentence, of course) because it is a title - exactly the reason that in English it would be in upper case.

The main square in Zagreb, in which this statue is situated, is Trg bana Josipa Jelačića  - the square of Ban Josip Jelačić (so his name, including the title is in genitive case).

The full picture: Trg bana Josipa Jelačića in the heart of Zagreb.

​Lots of learning Croatian happens in a planned, organised, well-designed manner. This is the case when we have a good teacher. But there are other times (such as might happen when reading this blog site) when learning Croatian is random, incidental, opportunistic. Like now, I see an opportunity ....

​For any reader who is learning Croatian, here is a little challenge that took me a little while to master - and I am not sure if I have yet done so.

How would we say the following in Croatian?
          I am in Ban Josip Jelačić Square.
          I can see Ban Josip Jelačić Square.
          I am walking toward Ban Josip Jelačić Square.
          I am standing under the statue of Ban Josip Jelačić.
          [Have a go, before you look at my answers below.]

In the posts in this section, it will be a little more difficult to identify Where? What? or Who? 

But our discussions might lead to more knowledge about Croatia and Croatians, and we might even engage in a little learning Croatian.

Over to you .....

My answers .... [Will someone check them, please?]
          Ja sam na Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića.
          Mogu vidjeti Trg bana Josipa Jelačića.
          Šetam prema Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića.
          Stojim ispod kipa bana Josipa Jelačića         or          Stojim pod kipom Bana Josipa Jelačića
In every sentence, 'ban Josip Jelačić' is in genitive case, following 'of', indicating possession.

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AHA! Learning Croatian with Bob
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