What People Look Like
Describing people runs on two verbs you know — ima (has) and nosi (wears) — plus adjective agreement from way back in Foundations. New vocabulary, familiar machinery.
Hair and Eyes
ima + accusative does the describing:
| Croatian | English |
|---|---|
| Ima dugu kosu. | She has long hair. |
| Ima kratku kosu. | He has short hair. |
| Ima plave oči. | She has blue eyes. |
| Ima smeđe oči. | He has brown eyes. |
Petra ima dugu smeđu kosu i zelene oči.
Petra has long brown hair and green eyes.
Note: Every adjective agreeing with its noun — accusative feminine kosu, plural oči.
Tall, Short, Young, Old
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| visok | visoka | tall |
| nizak | niska | short |
| mlad | mlada | young |
| star | stara | old |
Wearing: nositi
| Croatian | English |
|---|---|
| Nosi naočale. | He wears glasses. |
| Nosi crnu majicu. | She's wearing a black T-shirt. |
| Nosi šešir. | He wears a hat. (advisable under the Dalmatian sun) |
Character
| Croatian | English |
|---|---|
| drag / draga | kind, dear |
| duhovit / duhovita | funny, witty |
| pametan / pametna | smart |
| vrijedan / vrijedna | hard-working |
| lijen / lijena | lazy — fjaka's year-round cousin |
💬 Guess who
Kakav je tvoj brat?
What's your brother like?
Visok, ima kratku kosu i nosi naočale.
Tall, short hair, wears glasses.
A kakav je kao osoba?
And as a person?
Duhovit i drag — ali malo lijen.
Funny and kind — but a bit lazy.