If you ever find yourself on a Croatian beach, let’s say Zrće, and you are surrounded by handsome Dalmatinci and Dalmatinke and you want to say: “Oh, this Dalmatinac is so handsome!” and then you want to say “Oh, that Dalmatinac is even more handsome” or “Oh, look at that one over there!”… Well, today we’ll learn how to say it in Croatian – we are learning demonstrative pronouns.

How many demonstrative pronouns are there in the Croatian language?

OK, so you got the gist of what demonstrative pronouns are: it’s when you want to point at something or somebody. There are three types of demonstrative pronouns:

A) Demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question koji? (which (one)?):

ovaj – this one (close to me)
taj – that one (close to you)
onaj – that one over there (farther away from both me and you)

B) Demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question kakav? (what (is something) like? what kind of?):

ovakav – like this one 
takav – like that one 
onakav – like that one over there 

C) Demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question kolik(i)? (how large?):

ovolik(i) – this large
tolik(i) – that large
onolik(i) – large like that (one) over there

If you read our posts regularly, I am sure that by now you are pretty much used to the concept of genders and cases… So yes, the examples above are in their nominative masculine singular form: they can only be used with a masculine, singular object in the nominative case (e.g.: ovaj Dalmatinac). All demonstrative pronouns – like most other pronouns in the Croatian language – change through genders and cases. For example:

Ovaj Dalmatinac je jako zgodan! – This Dalmatian is very handsome!
(Q: Koji Dalmatinac je jako zgodan? – Which Dalmatian is very handsome?)
Ova rožata je tako ukusna! – This rožata is so delicious! 
(Q: Koja rožata je ukusna? – Which rožata is delicious?)

Takva haljina je jučer bila na sniženju. – A dress like that one was on sale yesterday.
(Q: Kakva haljina je jučer bila na sniženju? – What kind of a dress was on sale yesterday?)
Baš takvo odijelo bi bilo sjajno za vjenčanje. – A suit just like that one would be great for the wedding.
(Q: Kakvo odijelo bi bilo sjajno za vjenčanje? – What kind of a suit would be great for the wedding?)

Onoliki pas me ugrizao. – A dog large like that one over there bit me.
(Q: Koliki pas me ugrizao? – How large was the dog that bit me?)
Moja kuća je onolika. – My house is large like that one over there. 
(Q: Kolika je moja kuća? – How large is my house?)

Today we’ll focus on the first type, the demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question koji, koja or koje (which (one)). So, possible answers to the question Koja majica? (Which T-shirt?) are:

Get it? Now, let’s have a look at the table:

A few more examples are always welcome, right?

1. Ove pite su jako ukusne. – These pies are very tasty.
2. Onaj otok je Brač. – That island over there is Brač.
3. Ova plaža je najljepša. – This beach is the most beautiful one.
4. Ta trgovina prodaje dobro vino. – That store sells good wine.
5. Ta sela su slikovita. – Those villages are picturesque.
6. Oni bicikli se mogu unajmiti. – Those bikes over there can be rented.

What about other cases of demonstrative pronouns in the Croatian language?

As mentioned above, all demonstrative pronouns also change in cases… So, once again: the table above shows only the nominative version of the demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question koji, koja or koje. The good news is that the endings for demonstrative pronouns are the same as for possessive pronouns and the same as for adjectives. So, they all change through cases in the same way – and that is something that we’ll learn about in more detail in a separate post.

Let’s do some exercises using demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question koji: 

Do you have any questions about the demonstrative pronouns used to answer the question koji in Croatian? 

If you want to learn Croatian online with a teacher one-on-one, don’t hesitate to book your free trial lesson here.

Learning Croatian continues… Next Tuesday we are learning about the past tense of verbs in the Croatian language. If you want us to send you an email with the next Croatian grammar lesson, put your email address here.