Iznimke 2: Plural: the exceptions
In lesson 7 you learned the rules for the plural: masculine + i (short words + ovi / + evi), feminine -a → -e, neuter → -a. In this lesson you see the words that do it slightly differently. Here too, they fall into a few clear groups.
How do you learn them best?
These exceptions come from the history of the language: you do not need to know why. Croatians say them without thinking, and you learn them fastest by saying them out loud, singular and plural together each time: pas – psi, učenik – učenici. After a while the wrong form simply sounds odd.
1. Short word, still just -i
Short masculine words usually take -ovi or -evi: grad → gradovi, nož → noževi. These common short words do not: they simply take -i, like any other masculine word: gost → gosti, prst → prsti. Also watch out for sat: sati are hours, satovi are clocks.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning | How you say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| zub | zubi | teeth | To su zubi. |
| gost | gosti | guests | Gosti su tu. |
| prst | prsti | fingers | To su prsti. |
| konj | konji | horses | Konji su tamo. |
| dan | dani | days | Dani su lijepi. |
| mrav | mravi | ants | Mravi su crni. |
2. The a drops out
With some masculine words the last a drops out in the plural: pas → psi. Often the letter before it changes too, so it is easier to say: momak → momci (k becomes c), otac → očevi (c becomes č, then -evi). Words ending in -ac almost always do this: stranac → stranci.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning | How you say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| pas | psi | dogs | Psi su tamo. |
| san | snovi | dreams | Snovi su lijepi. |
| otac | očevi | fathers | Očevi su tu. |
| momak | momci | young men | Momci su tamo. |
| stranac | stranci | foreigners | Stranci su tu. |
| novac | novci | coins; money | To su novci. |
3. k, g and h become c, z and s
When a masculine word ends in k, g or h, that letter changes before the plural -i: k → c, g → z, h → s. You already knew one from lesson 7: liječnik → liječnici. This only happens before -i, so not with a short word taking -ovi: vlak → vlakovi.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning | How you say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| učenik | učenici | pupils | Učenici su tu. |
| jezik | jezici | languages | To su jezici. |
| putnik | putnici | travellers | Putnici su tamo. |
| dijalog | dijalozi | dialogues | To su dijalozi. |
| kovčeg | kovčezi | suitcases | Kovčezi su tamo. |
| trbuh | trbusi | bellies | To su trbusi. |
4. Neuter in -me: + na
A few neuter words ending in -me do not simply take -a in the plural, but an extra bit: ime → imena, rame → ramena. With vrijeme the j also drops out: vremena. In lesson 9 you already saw these words among the neuter words in -e.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning | How you say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| ime | imena | names | To su lijepa imena. |
| vrijeme | vremena | times | Vremena su dobra. |
| rame | ramena | shoulders | To su ramena. |
| sjeme | sjemena | seeds | To su sjemena. |
And the adjective?
It simply follows the gender, as in lesson 8: dobri gosti, veliki psi (masculine: -i), lijepa imena (neuter: -a). The plural of the word itself may be an exception, the adjective is not.
With a short masculine word, learn the plural right away, just as you learn the gender with every word: grad – gradovi, but gost – gosti.
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