Agreement After Two to Four

Level 3

Two, three and four use a special counted-noun pattern.

How It Works

Modifiers also follow the counting construction: dva dobra prijatelja, tri velika sela and dvije nove knjige. These are not ordinary masculine nominative plurals.

The masculine and neuter noun form often resembles genitive singular; the whole construction is commonly described as a special counting or paucal pattern. Do not infer ordinary singular agreement from its appearance.

Learn the basic nominative/accusative phrase before tackling formal numeral declension. The same count can appear as subject or object, while a preposition may introduce additional choices.

Examples (3)

  1. Imam dva dobra prijatelja.

    I have two good friends.

    The masculine counted phrase uses dobra prijatelja.

  2. Kupila sam tri nove knjige.

    I bought three new books.

    The female speaker uses the feminine counted phrase nove knjige.

  3. Vidimo četiri mala sela.

    We see four small villages.

    The neuter phrase has mala sela.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Agreement After Two to FourLevel 3

Learn This First

Low-numeral expressions require the special noun and modifier agreement of the counted phrase.

Words in This Pattern

dvatričetiri