Genitive Plural -a

Genitive Plural in -a

Level 3

Common genitive plural forms include knjiga, gradova and pisama. The shared final -a does not mean each is formed by adding a to the singular dictionary form.

How It Works

Pet knjiga has a form written like singular nominative knjiga, though its grammatical role is different. Normal Croatian spelling does not mark every vowel-length distinction.

Grad has an extended plural stem: gradovi, genitive gradova. Neuter pismo gives pisama, with a vowel inserted between consonants. Different nouns therefore reach final -a by different routes.

Not every genitive plural ends in -a. Feminine consonant-stem nouns and some irregular nouns use other endings. Check the full paradigm when a quantity phrase requires a noun you have not yet learned.

Examples (4)

  1. Imam pet knjiga.

    I have five books.

    Knjiga is genitive plural despite matching a singular spelling.

  2. Posjetili smo mnogo gradova.

    We visited many towns.

    Gradova uses the extended plural stem.

  3. Napisala je nekoliko pisama.

    She wrote several letters.

    Pisama contains an inserted a.

  4. Ovdje nema sela.

    There are no villages here.

    Sela can be genitive plural in this existential construction.

How It Connects

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Genitive Plural -aLevel 3Genitive Plural in -a

Learn This First

Genitive plural combines a case already known in the singular with plural number.

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Patterns that build on this one.