Verbal Nouns in -nje / -će

Naming an Action

Level 5

Verbal nouns such as čitanje and otkriće name an action or its result. They decline as nouns and can occur after prepositions.

How It Works

Frequent formations include -nje and -će, as in pisanje and otkriće. Other formations exist, including berba. The noun may describe an activity, an event or a result, depending on its established meaning.

A verbal noun does not have finite person or tense. In Razgovaramo o čitanju, čitanju is locative because of o. In prije otkrića, otkrića is genitive because of prije.

When converting a clause into a noun phrase, check the dependent cases and whether the participants remain clear. A long chain of genitives can obscure who acts; a finite clause may express that information more directly.

Examples (3)

  1. Čitanje knjiga pomaže mi da se opustim.

    Reading books helps me relax.

  2. Razgovarali smo o otkriću novog planeta.

    We talked about the discovery of a new planet.

  3. Prije polaska provjeri vrijeme otvaranja muzeja.

    Before departure, check the museum’s opening time.

How It Connects

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

Verbal Nouns in -nje / -ćeLevel 5Naming an Action

Learn This First

An action expressed as a noun takes noun case relations rather than retaining the source verb’s full syntax.

Words in This Pattern

-nje-će