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Chapter 7 of 8

Verbs of Action and Change

Verbs of creation and transformation describe how the world is changed. You izumiti (invent), razvijati (develop), poboljšati (improve), popraviti (repair), graditi (build), and uništiti (destroy) things; you spasiti (to save, rescue) someone in danger. Typical sentences include Tesla je izumio mnoge stvari (Tesla invented many things), Razvijamo novu aplikaciju (We're developing a new app), and Bura je uništila krov (The bora wind destroyed the roof).

Money and work generate another cluster. You zarađivati (earn), potrošiti (spend), uštedjeti (save), and ulagati (invest). Posuditi (to borrow or lend) takes the preposition od when borrowing from someone and kome when lending to someone, and you vratiti dug (repay) what you owe. In professional life you organizirati (organise), pripremiti (prepare), kontrolirati (control), upravljati (manage), voditi (lead), and slijediti (follow), while team dynamics require podržavati (support) and protiviti se (oppose). Useful examples include Vodim tim od pet ljudi (I lead a team of five) and Podržavam tvoju odluku (I support your decision).

Achievement and conflict round out this chapter. You pokušati (try), snaći se (manage, cope), doseći (reach), and postići (achieve); you may uspjeti (succeed) or ne uspjeti (fail). In conflict you boriti se (fight), napasti (attack), braniti (defend), osvojiti (win), and izgubiti (lose). Life events are expressed by odrasti (grow up), umiroviti se (retire), slaviti (celebrate), odbiti (refuse), prihvatiti (accept), and dopustiti si (allow oneself). Movement and gathering use pobjeći (escape), sakriti se (hide oneself), tjerati (chase), okupljati (gather), predstaviti (introduce), izvoditi (perform), and sudjelovati (participate). Spreading information, finally, uses obavijestiti (inform), najaviti (announce), objaviti (publish), prevesti (translate), snimiti (record), and emitirati (broadcast).

All chapters
  1. 1Personal Qualities and the Mind
  2. 2Society and Civic Life
  3. 3Education and the Workplace
  4. 4Travel, Health, and Environment
  5. 5Conversational Phrases and Connectors
  6. 6Verbs of Thought and Influence
  7. 7Verbs of Action and Change
  8. 8Croatian Grammar Essentials

Drill it

Reading is not remembering. These come from the Croatian B1 deck:

Q

What is the Croatian for "decision"?

odluka (f)Example: Odluka je donesena jednoglasno. (The decision was made unanimously.)

Q

What is the Croatian for "opportunity"?

prilika (f)Example: Prilika za posao se ne propušta. (A job opportunity is not to be missed.)

Q

What is the Croatian for "experience"?

iskustvo (n)Example: Imam pet godina iskustva. (I have five years of experience.)

Q

What is the Croatian for "knowledge"?

znanje (n)Example: Znanje je moć. (Knowledge is power.)