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Chapter 6 of 8

Verbs of Thought and Influence

Croatian verbs of mental activity form a tight cluster. Odlučiti (to decide), izabrati (to choose), and pretpostaviti (to assume) describe the process of arriving at a judgement, often followed by očekivati (to expect) and zahtijevati (to require). You can zamisliti (imagine) or sanjati (dream), and you may osjetiti (feel, sense) something. Uncertainty is expressed through sumnjati (to doubt) and certainty through priznati (to admit) or poreći (to deny). You can also uspoređivati (to compare) and, more concretely, otkriti (to discover) or sakriti (to hide) something. Typical sentences include Odlučio sam ostati (I decided to stay) and Pretpostavljam da znaš (I assume you know).

Communication and influence are handled by verbs such as predložiti (to suggest), savjetovati (to advise), obećati (to promise), upozoriti (to warn), and podsjetiti (to remind). You can prijetiti (to threaten) or uvjeriti (to convince), and you may need to zahvaliti (to thank) or ispričati se (to apologise). Disagreements are voiced with žaliti se (to complain), raspraviti (to discuss), and svađati se (to argue), while consensus uses složiti se (to agree) and ne slagati se (to disagree). Sample phrases include Savjetujem ti odmor (I advise you to rest), Priznajem da sam pogriješio (I admit I was wrong), and Upozorio sam te na opasnost (I warned you of the danger).

Verbs of permission, prohibition, and inclusion round out the social vocabulary. Dopustiti (to allow) stands against zabraniti (to forbid), while uključiti (to include) contrasts with isključiti (to exclude). Relations and dependence are expressed by utjecati (to influence), ovisiti (to depend on), pripadati (to belong to), and sastojati se (to consist of). Uspjeti (to succeed) versus ne uspjeti (to fail) captures outcomes. You might say Dopusti mi da pokušam (Allow me to try), Sve ovisi o tebi (It all depends on you), or Knjiga pripada knjižnici (The book belongs to the library).

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.)