The Instrumental Case: Quickly Learn The Seventh Croatian Grammatical Case (Part 1)

[@bipinrai1649]

Hvala ljepa ines!

[@renatofigueiredo603]

Great class it is helping me not only with Croatian but with other languages. Hvala

[@learncroatian9135]

That's awesome! I'm so glad!

[@deancj1]

@@learncroatian9135 I'm enjoying your lessons. Thank you for all the work put into them. I'm using Mondly app as a supplement but wanted to ask if there is any that you would recommend. Thank you.

[@learncroatian9135]

@@deancj1 Keep up the great work!

[@perryzutshi5232]

Dear Ines, let me first congratulate you for your excellent teaching skills. My question is, in the example "Volim putovati noću", where's the instrumental case? (as there is no "om" or "em") Thanks !!!

[@learncroatian9135]

Hi Perry! Thank you very much for your compliment! In the example "Volim putovati noću" the instrumental is "noću". Noć is a feminine noun (nominative), and the instrumental is "noću". The instrumental can also be "noći", both forms are correct. This noun is somewhat an exception from the regular declension. That's why the instrumental doesn't end on -om or -em... It's: N - noć G - noći D - noći A - noć V - noći L - noći I - noći, noću

[@perryzutshi5232]

@@learncroatian9135 Ah, ok. Thanks a lot !!!!

[@wendyengland2530]

This was my question too! So glad you asked.

[@GypsieSeeker]

Sretan Božić!

[@learncroatian9135]

Sretan Božić!

[@jessicamildrum1126]

Hvala ljepa Ines! :-)

[@learncroatian9135]

Nema na čemu :)

[@basantastha4021]

most helpful

[@jean-lucchevrier2371]

I am a little confused by the table (web page) plural/instrumental/nouns about the ending in "ama" for masculine and neutral. This is written ama/ima. When do we use "ama" for neutral or masculine names ? About ljubovi with ending in ima, I didn't get at first that the ending with consonant is the one in singular (so adding end on a consonant at the singular could maybe a +) The clearest lessons of Croatian so far I met on the web. Welldone !

[@life.in.the.new.energy]

Where can we find this great song from the end? And what's its name? 😊😊

[@KathrynSrce3719]

Zdravo Ines i Sretan Božić! Imam pitanje. 😇 What preposition is "k/ka"? And what case do you use it with?

[@GypsieSeeker]

Towards + dative case (?)

[@learncroatian9135]

Sretan Božić, Kathryn! K/ka is "towards" or "to" expressing a direction of movement. It's used with the Dative case.

[@KathrynSrce3719]

@@GypsieSeeker thank you. I knew I was confusing something.

[@GilbertPaderna-ie4lu]

I am interested in learning Croatian language.

[@gerardk51]

Hi. Can you explain this?: I see a tall building vidim visoku zgradu accusative but: They want to make the building tall žele zgradu učiniti visokom instrumental thanks

[@learncroatian9135]

Hi, thank you for your question! So, in the latter phrase where you use the Instrumental, the word "tall" describes the characteristic of the noun (subject) but it is tied to the predicate. For example, as you said - I want to make the building tall - želim zgradu učiniti visokom. Uskoro ću postati učiteljem u školi. Soon I will become a teacher at school. The hint can be verbs like to make, to become, to be, etc. So, the adjective is still relating to the subject, but is tied to the predicate. In my last example however, people often use the nominative, rather than the Instrumental. In your example - I see a tall building, the tall building is a direct object, therefore it's accusative. I hope this cleared it up a bit. If not, I'll try to find another way to explain. Let me know!

[@gerardk51]

@@learncroatian9135 thanks. I think I get it.

[@learncroatian9135]

@@gerardk51 You're very welcome!

[@irenareena]

@@gerardk51 another thing, with words like smatrati or nazvati youll use instrumental similarly. For example, He called himself a king, On se nazvao kraljem. Or, she consideres me a failure, Ona me smatra neuspjehom. Its a very interesting use for instrumental that is easy to miss but definitely utilized in speech by native speakers.

[@irenareena]

@@gerardk51 this also applies to adjectives in these situations

[@tkengels6652]

Too much for my brain

[@learncroatian9135]

Take it easy and start simple 😉 Anything I can help you with?

[@tkengels6652]

@@learncroatian9135 I'm trying to learn the language because of a girl i met, but it's impossible. It's easy to pronounce things (as an Spanish speaker) but words in Croatian change too much depending of the gender, present/past, etc. She has been teaching for the past 2 months and I still can't a single sentence. Ne razumijem!! thx for replying, hvala ti.

[@learncroatian9135]

@@tkengels6652 I completely understand your struggle! Let me start by saying that Croatian is one of the hardest languages to learn and this is the reason why you feel you're not getting anywhere with it. I suggest you start with simple things and simple sentences. Foxus on vocabulary that you would use in everyday life and make sentences with just three words and go from there. It is hard but it isn't impossible. And if it's about a girl, then you have the extra motivation 😉