Understanding Hrvatski Adjective Agreement
In Hrvatski, adjectives are words that describe nouns, like 'big', 'small', 'red', or 'happy'. Just like in English, but with a special twist: they have to match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. This is called agreement.
Important Points
- Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
- Adjectives must agree in number: singular or plural.
- Adjectives must agree in case: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, or instrumental.
- The ending of the adjective changes to show this agreement.
- The basic form of an adjective is usually the masculine nominative singular.
When you learn a new adjective, you'll often learn it in its basic form. But when you use it, you'll need to change its ending to match the noun it describes. Let's look at some examples to see how this works.
Examples
- Masculine singular: velik pas (big dog)
- Feminine singular: velika mačka (big cat)
- Neuter singular: veliko dijete (big child)
Let's explore how adjectives change in the plural form. Just like with singular nouns, adjectives must still match in gender, but now they also need to show that there is more than one of something.
Examples
- Masculine plural: veliki psi (big dogs)
- Feminine plural: velike mačke (big cats)
- Neuter plural: velika djeca (big children)
Remember, the endings of adjectives change based on the case of the noun too. This can be a bit tricky, but with practice, it becomes easier. Each case has its own set of endings.
By understanding these rules, you can describe things more accurately in Hrvatski. Keep practicing and soon it will become second nature!