Learn Croatian - When To Use Moj and Svoj to Express Possession? - A Quick and Easy Tip

Learn when to use moj and svoj to express possession in Croatian with this easy tip and explanation.
If you have any questions, leave the comment below!
Text used in this video:
Possessive pronouns:
Sing.
1. Moj
2. Tvoj
3. Njegov / njen (njezin) /njegov
Pl.
1. Naš
2. Vaš
3. Njihov
To je moj pas.
That is my dog.
Ja imam svog psa, ti imaš svog psa.
I have my own dog, you have your own dog.
Ivan ima svog psa.
John has his own dog.
Ivan ima njegovog psa.
John has his (Marko's) dog.
Ona ima svoju knjigu.
She has her own book.
Mi imamo svoju knjigu.
We have our own book.
Oni imaju svoju knjigu.
They have their own book.
The reflexive-possessive pronoun svoj doesn't depend on the subject's gender but on the object's gender - svoj (masc.), svoja (fem)., svoje (neut.).

[@okokok3849]

I have seen svoj before and it confuses me a lot, thank you so much!

[@learncroatian9135]

You're so welcome! Has this helped?

[@thefakecroat]

Yeaaa i got confused too a lot

[@okokok3849]

@@learncroatian9135 Hi Ines, I’d like your help please :) I’ve been confused about this for aggggesssss in Croatian and asked many people but lots of people aren’t sure lol but do you have an explanation for why some masculine words in Croatian have an -a at the end when in plural form? For example, cars is automobili, but when you say 4 cars I think it changes to četiri automobila. Are there any rules for this and why does it happen? Thanks!

[@biserkasertic1208]

@@okokok3849 If you say "It was 4 cars" ="bilo je 4 automobila" is corect because its Genitiv (2cnd case) Nominativ - automobil Genitiv - automobila Dativ - automobilu Akuzativ - automobil Vocativ - automobilu (or maybe automobile - I'm not quite shure 'cause I never call automobil) Locativ - automobilu Instrumental - automobilom

[@omarissa4373]

Razumem sam sad hvala ti puno iz ZANZIBAR ❣️🌹💞

[@Fabinho204]

Wow that genuinely makes a lot of sense, translating this and trying it out in german it also sounds weird without clarifying! Thank you

[@maslina4567]

As a new subscriber to your channel, I wish to thank you very much for your clarity and friendly approach. Your channel is a happy discovery for me as a Canadian who lives part time in wondrous Croatia. I cannot express how helpful your videos are! Very much appreciated as most of our (rural) neighbours do not speak English and communicating with them with my limited Croatian brings me great joy, one of my favourite things to do. I can hardly wait to converse with them more fully using the incredible information you have provided!

[@learncroatian9135]

Welcome to the channel! I'm so happy that you can learn more and use more of the language with your neighbours! Oh locals love it when you speak our language. Especially the older generation. I have been a bit slow with new videos recently but am working on more. If you have any questions, I'm here 😊

[@maslina4567]

@@learncroatian9135 Thank you very much! Though I have been learning here and there, the best by far is conversing with others as you say. Our neighbours literally tear up and hold our hands when we try our best. They are patient and kind. I know enough to understand quite a lot but speaking properly can be challenging. Due to covid I haven't been to Croatia for a long time and I yearn for it with all my heart. Watching your videos have removed much of the haze from my brain. I'm watching them several times to solidify and supplement knowledge. So many "aha!" moments! I cannot begin to tell you how you have helped. Your enunciation and pronunciation are brilliant. I'm sure I'll soon inundate you with questions. :) So looking forward to further content! I also look forward to being "home" this summer! FINALLY!

[@learncroatian9135]

@@maslina4567 oh you said so many awesome things, I don't know which to address first! I think my favorite thing you said is how your neighbours respond to your attempt at speaking because that's exactly how I would expect them to respond and it's so precious! I'm so happy you get to experience that! Also, I'm extremely glad that I've been able to help! I'll cover more basic topics of grammar and serach out those intricate things to make videos about as well. Keep up the good work! Oh and ENJOY your time back in Croatia! 😊😊😊

[@maslina4567]

@@learncroatian9135 You're right. Our neighbours treat us very well. I really cherish them. Oh,how I love Croatia! It's imperfect but so is Canada. Given the choice I'd live permanently in Croatia. We often plan a getaway in Europe from Croatia for a week but sometimes don't go as we don't want to leave our lovely home and village. Regarding language, so many things are falling into place for me now that I am studying your videos. Friends and neighbours will be pleased with my progress. 🙂

[@learncroatian9135]

@@maslina4567 I'm so happy you have fallen in love with Croatia! It's a mesmerizing land... Yes, imperfect, but beautiful! Oh, I'm excited for you to speak with your neighbours 😊 I'm so happy I could help!

[@tkengels6652]

Dobar dan!! Mind explaining when to use: “se” and when to use: Hrvastka, hrvastki, hrvastkog, hrvastkoj... učim hrvastki, pa je teško :(

[@okokok3849]

Hrvatska is the country and can be a feminine adjective, hrvatski is something that is like a noun and an adjective, hrvatski can mean the language or be used as an adjective I think. Hrvatskog and hrvatskoj are both hrvatska but in different cases, for example if you were to say I’m in Croatia, you would say Ja sam u hrvatskoj. I’m pretty sure that’s right but a Croatian would need to make sure 😂

[@tkengels6652]

@@okokok3849 I’m self teaching and this language is brutal. Somehow Japanese was a bit more simple

[@okokok3849]

@@tkengels6652 do you have a HelloTalk account? We can chat on it

[@tkengels6652]

@@okokok3849 no, is that available on apple store? I only have Mondly and 101 Croatian lessons xaxa

[@johnalejandro2245]

@@tkengels6652 yep HelloTalk is an app where you chat with native speakers of other languages, it’s like you text them and you can correct people if they need help with your language 😂

[@peropericification]

Odlično! Ovo je mojim studentima jako korisno, puno hvala!

[@tatolela1234]

Thank you very much for uploading this amazing content to the internet. You have helped me a lot learning this lenguage :)

[@learncroatian9135]

You are so welcome!

[@yt_shine986]

⁰0⁰⁰q

[@Word2Words]

Hi Ines, great lesson! In such examples, I get confused which form of the word 'dog' to use: 'pas' or 'psa'. Would 'Ja imam svoj pas' make sense at all? Are they interchangeable or is there a grammatical difference?

[@linconnayak5954]

Thank you

[@jayd59]

going to watch this over snd over...

[@lulucamargo2985]

In the words of Donna Summer you're simply the best, wow your content is mind blowing, so very well explained, I just found this channel seen few videos, but you are so clear explaining that even the difficult parts you make them seem smooth, hvala puno od srca!

[@learncroatian9135]

Hi Lulu! Thank you so much for your encouraging comment! It's my absolute pelasure and I'm so glad I can help clear things up!

[@winnieramos3061]

Hi Very helpful for me new in croatia

[@magma9138]

Excellent.

[@judeokoroji2614]

From Nigeria. I think svog is for Zenski rod locative and dative respectively. If it is živo in the Mz. Rod it will be svojem for both locative and dative. In accusative Mz. Rod it will be svojeg for živo. I hope I am correct

[@rachelg.5538]

I was just thinking about this today! Thank you :)

[@learncroatian9135]

You're so welcome!

[@yviucihrvatski537]

Hvala ti puno. To je odlično 🤩

[@learnpatenteb1810]

Thanku. It really helps me. Please make video on name of weeks, colours, months.

[@learncroatian9135]

Thank you for the suggestions! I will do that!

[@mrlds3202]

Very clear explanation, thank you!

[@linconnayak5954]

From India

[@Rypha80]

Bok, Kako si :) great videos and really well explained I do like your teaching style. Having tried to learn via many methods as an English speaker I still struggle... I was wondering if you provide private remote lessons perhaps? 👍

[@learncroatian9135]

Bok! Dobro sam, hvala na pitanju :) I'm so glad the videos and my teaching style suits you! At the moment, I don't provide individial lessons, but I might in the future. I will let you know :) Happy learning!

[@Rypha80]

@@learncroatian9135 great :) thanks for the response 👍

[@loopdyloo22]

Thanks

[@AhmadČok-s2b]

Svaka čas👍🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸. Do you have maybe a lesson about the svršni and nesvršeni glagoli...thanks very much.....

[@learncroatian9135]

@@AhmadČok-s2b I don't, sadly... But unfortunately, there's no rule on how to make them. It's something that you need to learn by heart 😅 My suggestions is to learn them both at the same time. Think of svršeni (perfective) as a verb whose action is done and finished, and the imperfective as a continuous verb - action not finished.

[@AhmadČok-s2b]

@@learncroatian9135 hvala puno, profesorka, vi ste divni .👍🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

[@mlcday]

this is sick- hvala!

[@thefakecroat]

Perfectly!!! This was one of my biggest struggles during my conversations in Croatian♥️👍🏻

[@learncroatian9135]

I'm so happy I could clear it up! Any other common struggles?

[@thefakecroat]

@@learncroatian9135 I have big problems with casses. I must find out when to use which case. I know most endings. But i don’t know which case i must start to learn. I don’t know which is the easiest. Intrumental goes pretty well. And dativ i know all endings but don’t know exactly when to use it. But if i have big problems with something common. Ill let you know👍🏻♥️

[@learncroatian9135]

@@thefakecroat Cases are pretty hard so be patient and kind with yourself. Check out the cases videos I made if you haven't already, they might give you some pointers as well.

[@thefakecroat]

@@learncroatian9135 yea i’ve checked them all to see which one is the easiest to start off with. But I don’t know which one i need to start with. And when can i say i understand a case completly

[@learncroatian9135]

@@thefakecroat Hm... Maybe start with the Accusative case since it's the case you will use a lot in sentences with direct objects... And the Instrumental (simplified) is the case you use when expressing companionship or tools (with/by), etc.

[@alpennews2944]

Very good explanation

[@learncroatian9135]

I'm glad it's helpful!

[@ladymarianne793]

That was so clear! Hvala!🥰

[@learncroatian9135]

You're so welcome! Molim :)

[@shukriham9214]

Thank you for clarifying, I have question, could I say for me not her or him ( ja imam svoj knjige ) or I should say ( ja imam svog knjige) which one is correct? Thanks..

[@svattah]

Please how do i say for example; I don’t wanna go there. Ja neželim tamo ići or Ja nehoću tamo ići? And what is the diference Betlémě these two verbs and when to use them? Pumo hvala na odgovoru😊

[@learncroatian9135]

Ja ne želim ići tamo would be correct for I don't want to go there. Ja neću ići tamo - I won't go there. The verb htjeti is the auxiliary verb for the future tense. You use it to form the future 1. tense. Željeti means to wish. You would use it in this instance when you say you don't want to go somewhere, as saying I don't wish to go somewhere. But, if you say "I won't go somewhere" , you say - Neću ići tamo.

[@YankoMartic]

I always confuse svoj with “yours” because is similar to the word in spanish…😅

[@KathrynSrce3719]

Zdravo Ines! Sretan petak. What cases were you using in these examples? Were they the genitive and the accusative cases? And, when to use what case when utilising "svoje" in a sentence? Also, I think I've asked you this before but can you do a video on how to connect sentence clauses using "koje" and "što"? Lastly, can you please do videos on the other past and future tenses? Thank you.

[@rachelg.5538]

Hi fellow learner:) She uses the accusative case in her example about the dog because the dog is the direct object. Masculine living things end in -a (their adjectives end in -og). I hope that helps^^

[@learncroatian9135]

Thank you for your input! Yes, that's exactly right! Direct objects are Accusative.

[@learncroatian9135]

Zdravo, Kathryn! Ugodan petak i tebi, također! So, yes, the cases are mostly Accusative except for the sentence To je moj pas. In this sentence moj pas is the Nominative case. So, svoj changes in case, gender and count just like any pronoun. It changes according to the object in these sentences. Masculine sing N - svoj G - svog(a) D - svom(u) A - svog(a) V - - L - svom(u) I - svojim Masculine pl. N - svoji G - svojih D - svojim(a) A - svoje V - - L - svojim(a) I - svojima Femenine sing N - svoja G - svoje D - svojoj A - svoju V - - L - svojoj I - svojom Femenine pl N - svoje G - svojih D - svojim A - svoje V - - L - svojim I - svojim As for your video requests - absolutely! I'll work on them soon. Can you just give me an example of what exactly is unclear about the connectors? It would help me to figure out the best way to make the video.

[@KathrynSrce3719]

@@rachelg.5538 Thank you.

[@KathrynSrce3719]

@@learncroatian9135 Thank you for this information, Ines. As for the connectors, I just want to know how to use them properly. I tend to break sentences with full stops rather than using connectors because I'm not fully comfortable using them yet because I'm not sure if I would be using them properly. I do know, however, that "koje" is both gender and case dependent while "što" is not.

[@kcet7267]

"I have a dog" means that it could be anyone's dog. But I have my dog means ownership of the dog 🐕

[@learncroatian9135]

Dogs are an important part of life! :D

[@okokok1178]

Hey Ines! Thanks for this video. I have something in croatian tha confuses me. I think certain numbers have cases or genders assigned to them. is that true? or the numbers sometimes change depending on case and number. What are the rules for this? thanks

[@learncroatian9135]

Numbers certainly change both genders and cases! They are the changeable words in Croatian, just like nouns, pronouns and adjectives. Usually they match the gender of the noun that they are counting. Vidim dvije žene (N pl) - I see two women. Razgovaram s dvijema ženama. (I pl.) - I'm talking to two women, etc.

[@johnalejandro2245]

Hi Ines, I’d like your help please :) I’ve been confused about this for aggggesssss in Croatian and asked many people but lots of people aren’t sure lol but do you have an explanation for why some masculine words in Croatian have an -a at the end when in plural form? For example, cars is automobili, but when you say 4 cars I think it changes to četiri automobila. Are there any rules for this and why does it happen? Thanks!

[@learncroatian9135]

Hi John! I'm so sorry I missed your question! No idea how that happened and I even think I might have answered this somewhere already. Anyway, the noun "auto" is tricky because by its form should be neuter, but it's actually masculine. The plural is auta (N). Now, when talking about numbers, there's something very particular going on there (I'll cover that in a video lesson). Anyway, if you use numbers, you need to use exact cases with them in the following order: 1 + N sing. (jedan automobil, jedan čovjek, jedna žena, jedno dijete, etc.) 2, 3, 4, + a form of G sing. (dva automobila, tri automobila, tri žene, četiri djeteta, etc.) 5 and more (except for mulitple digit numbers ending on 1-4) + G pl. - (deset automobila, dvadeset i pet žena, etc) I hope this helps!

[@nozza129]

Why does the og get added on the end?

[@learncroatian9135]

@@nozza129 it changes depending on the role in the sentence. That's why Croatian language has all the cases.

[@nozza129]

Is there a video explaining this? I even see hrvatskog sometimes I’ve never been able to pick up why or when to use the ‘og’

[@sidra1401]

Are J pronounced as L or Y of English?

[@learncroatian9135]

J is pronounced as the first sound in "yogurt".

[@derekprowse7039]

Brilliantly done. Ty.

[@ianparker6636]

Why did you change from svoj to svog please

[@learncroatian9135]

It's a change in case. Svoj is nominative, svog is genitive and accusative.

[@ianparker6636]

Hvala