UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!!
With the knowledge of the accusative case and a few verbs, we can talk about travel and express destinations. The useful verbs are:
|
do·la·ziti come, arrive puto·va·ti (pu·tu·je) travel |
i·ći· (i·de) go o·dla·ziti leave |
There are couple of nouns that we can use with verbs to demonstrate use of destinations:
|
Ame·ri·ka America Beo·gra·d (a city) bi·oskop cinema Bo·sna Bosnia gra`d city |
pa·rk park Sa·ra·jevo (a city) resto·ra·n restaurant ško·la school Sr·bi·ja Serbia |
6.1 Preposition u
To express destinations, we have to put the preposition u¨ in front of the noun in accusative, and then we can make sentences like these:
A·na o·dla·zi u_Ame·ri·ku. Ana is leaving for America.
While English leave usually uses for instead of to, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Serbian don’t use prepositions, it’s literally leaving to America.
Like the word ne, the preposition u is pronounced together with the word following it, but always spelled separately.
In most of Serbia (including Belgrade), that’s it. However, in Bosnia and western parts of Serbia (i.e. ones close to Bosnia), the preposition u behaves as ne: the falling stress "spreads" to it:
u + ku·ću
→ u·_ku·ću
u + ško·lu
→ u·_ško·lu
The rising stress stays put (but preposition is always pronounced together with the word following it):
u + lo·na·c → u_lo·na·c
There are words with the falling tone where something special happens. This is the reason for my special marks. With these words, the stress shifts to the preposition, but stays falling. One example is the word for water which has such falling stress in the accusative case:
u + vo`du → u`_vodu
With these words, the stress shifts left to the preposition, and but stays falling. This is why I use that symbol: the falling stress that wants to be as left as possible. The same happens with the noun gra`d city which doesn’t change in A:
u + gra`d → u`_grad
So we have following examples (in Bosnia):
I·dem u·_ku·ću.
Mi·la·n ska·če u`_vodu.
However, in most of Serbia, the same sentences would be pronounced as:
I·dem u_ku·ću.
Mi·la·n ska·če u_vo`du
Of course, the difference in stress is normally not visible in writing.
6.2. First pers. plural of present tense
Next, it would be great if we could say not just I’m... but also we’re! It’s quite simple: again, personal pronouns are normally not used (I, we...) but a special verb form, 1st person plural present (for short, pres-1pl). It’s a form quite simple to make, just add an -o to the pres-1 form (one that ends in a -m):
I·dem I’m going → I·demo we’re going
For instance:
I·demo u_resto·ra·n. We’re going to the restaurant.
6.3 Preposition na
The preposition u essentially means in. There are words where you have to use the preposition na instead, which is essentially on. For example:
| ostrvo island | planina mountain |
The preposition na is used for all destinations that are perceived as surfaces, or when the destination is on top – it’s usually translated as onto or on: you would use it for roofs, tabletops, walls, etc.
The preposition na¨ also applies to the following popular destinations:
plaža beach |
trg (city) square |
For example:
Idemoići na plažu. We’re going to the beach.
The preposition na¨ must be used with the cardinal points when used as directions:
|
sjever
▶
north zapad ▶ west |
istok
▶
east jug ▶ south |
For example:
Putujemoputovati na jug. We’re traveling south.
6.4 Using na for activities
The preposition na¨ is used with many metaphorical destinations (or rather, activities):
|
na fakultet to university na more to the seaside na posao to work |
na praznike to holidays na put on a trip na selo to countryside |
(I’ve listed nouns in the phrases above in the accusative case; the form praznike is in accusative plural, a form that will be explained later.) For instance:
Ana ideići na posao. Ana is going to work.
Idemoići na more. We’re going to the seaside.
(Some of these destinations can be used also with u¨ – it makes their meaning literal, e.g. u more means literally into the sea, to swim or dive, throwing something into the sea, etc. Nouns that require the na¨ are marked in the Core Dictionary.)
The metaphorical na¨ includes all activities usually done in company, such as meals, meetings and sport events:
|
na čaj to have a tea na kafu to have a coffee na koncert to a concert na futbal to football game na odmor to vacation/break |
na pivo to have a beer na ples to dance na ručak to lunch na sastanak to a meeting na večeru to supper |
When you say na kavu, it requires motion to a destination (where you will have a coffee or more than one), not just drinking coffee wherever you are. The ‘destination’ na nogomet means both playing football or just watching a game (this applies to other sports and public performances as well).
The same holds for celebrations and parties:
na rođendan
▶
to a birthday party
na zabavu to a party
For instance:
Idemići na kafu. I’m going to have a coffee.
Idemoići na sastanak. We’re going to a meeting.
If it’s a bit confusing what ‘activities usually done in company’ are, they are simply not literally places. Consider this:
| not true places | true places |
|---|---|
| concert | concert hall |
| dinner | restaurant |
| football | playground |
| meeting | meeting room |
| movie premiere | cinema |
You’ll later see that the preposition na¨ can be regarded as the default preposition in Croatian.
Finally, the ‘destination’ na sunce usually doesn’t imply taking a spaceship, but rather going to an open space, to get exposed to the sunlight:
| na sunce in the sun | na vazduh to (fresh) air |
Pay attention: everything I’ve explained here are destinations, and not locations. If you say idemo na plažu, you aren’t describing where the action takes place, but where you’re heading to (and you may get there or not). To help you distinguish locations vs destinations, consider the following sentences:
|
I’m running to the gym. (You aren’t in the gym, just want to get there.) | = a destination |
|
I’m running in the gym. (You are in the gym, and running there.) | = a location |
If you feel that the word to is a better fit in English, it’s definitely a destination. Confusingly, English uses on in e.g. going on vacation, when you’re actually not on vacation yet – but Croatian treats this case as a destination too. While English sometimes uses the same grammar for both, Croatian strongly distinguishes destinations from locations.
So, what about locations? You will have to wait a while, since we have to learn another noun form to express them. Destinations come cheap, if you know how to make the accusative case.
The sentences above can be made more precise if we add one of the following useful adverbs of time:
|
sad(a) now danas ▶ today sutra tomorrow ® uskoro ▶ soon |
prekosutra day after tomorrow sljedeće godine next year sljedeći mjesec ▶ next month sljedeći tjedan next week |
(As in English, you can talk about events in future and still use the present tense.) Such words and expressions are often used to begin sentence with:
Sutra idemići na sastanak. I’m going to a meeting tomorrow.
Danas idemoići u kino. We’re going to cinema today.
Sljedeće godine putujemoputovati na Hvar. We’re traveling to the island of Hvar next year.
Finally, there are the following often used generic directions:
|
blizu close, near daleko far away dalje further, away unutra inside |
ovamo here natrag / nazad back napolje outside tamo / onamo there |
For example:
Ana uskoro dolazi ovamo. Ana is coming here soon.
6.5 Asking for the destination
To ask where to something or someone goes/travels, just start a question with:
kamo where... to
Nothing else except this word is needed, there’s no change of word order:
Kamo Ana ideići? ▶ Where is Ana going to?
— Na posao. To work.
— Ideići na posao. She’s going to work.
It’s normal to answer with just a destination, leaving the verb out; you can include the verb if you want to emphasize it. In colloquial communication, especially in some regions, you will hear e.g. gdje or kuda instead of kamo in such questions.®
As you can see, the accusative case is not used only for objects. In fact, almost all cases in Croatian have more than one use. If you find somewhere on the Internet a table where each case has one use, and even better, where each case “answers to questions”, bear in mind that explains only a small part of the real use. I will introduce other uses of accusative gradually.
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