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The Proper Accusative Case: The Direct Object

The Accusative case is the case of the direct object, indicating the person or thing directly affected by the verb's action (e.g., "I see him", "She reads a book"). Its forms depend on gender, number, and whether a masculine noun is animate (living) or inanimate (non-living).

• Nouns:

  • Singular Masculine Inanimate/Neuter: Same as Nominative (consonant/-o/-e). (e.g., Vidim stol - I see a table, Vidim grad - I see a city, Vidim proljeće - I see spring)
  • Singular Masculine Animate: Same as Genitive (-a). (e.g., Vidim oca - I see a father, Vidim muža - I see a man)
  • Singular Feminine: ending -u. (e.g., Vidim knjigu - I see a book, Vidim zemlju - I see the earth)
  • Plural Masculine Inanimate/Feminine/Neuter: Same as Nominative Plural (-i/-e/-a). (e.g., Vidim stolove - I see tables, Vidim knjige - I see books, Vidim sela - I see villages)
  • Plural Masculine Animate: Same as Genitive Plural (-a). (e.g., Vidim očeva - I see fathers, Vidim muškaraca - I see men)

• Adjectives: Follow the rules of the noun they modify. Hard stem adjectives use hard endings, soft stem adjectives use soft endings.

  • Singular Masculine Inanimate/Neuter: Same as Nominative Singular (hard -ar/-a/-o, soft -an/-a/-o). (e.g., Vidim stari dom - I see an old house, Vidim nježno polje - I see a tender field)
  • Singular Masculine Animate: Same as Genitive Singular (hard -og(a), soft -eg(a)). (e.g., Vidim starog(a) oca - I see an old father, Vidim nježnog(a) muškarca - I see a tender man)
  • Singular Feminine: ending -u. (e.g., Vidim novu knjigu - I see a new book, Vidim nježnu ženu - I see a tender woman)
  • Plural Masculine Inanimate/Feminine/Neuter: Same as Nominative Plural (hard -i/-e/-a, soft -i/-e/-a). (e.g., Vidim stare domove - I see old houses, Vidim nježne knjige - I see tender books)
  • Plural Masculine Animate: Same as Genitive Plural (hard -ih, soft -ih). (e.g., Vidim starih očeva - I see old fathers, Vidim nježnih muškaraca - I see tender men)

• Examples: Ja čitam zanimljivu knjigu (I am reading an interesting book). On vidi svojega oca (He sees his father). Mi kupujemo novo auto (We are buying a new car).