Mia: Život nije siv

By request, here’s a song by Croatian singer-songwriter Mia Dimšić, performing under her first name only.


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This song features colloquial shortening of infinitives, e.g. nać instead of naći perf. find.

The singer consistently uses the standard stress scheme (e.g. pripadam I belong is stressed on the 1st syllable), since she’s from Osijek, a city in the ‘standard stress area’. For more on various pronunciations, check 01 Alphabet and Pronunciation.

The first verse contains a simple expression of fear, with a da-clause in the future tense. For more about expressing fear, check 69 Memories, Expectations and Fear.

The second verse contains an imperative (the Croatian verse doesn't contain me, but it's common in English) and the verb trebati need/should in the ‘inverse’ mode: who needs something is in DL (mi², DL of the 1st pers. pronoun), and what is needed (or not) is in N (vrač).

The pronoun nju is feminine, since it refers to sreća happiness, a feminine noun:

Bojiš se
you are afraid
bojati se be afraid
srećuhappiness neću naćI won't find]?
You are afraid [I won't find happiness]?
vjerujbelieve, zafor nju
her (A, stressed form)
ne trebadon't need mi
to me (DL)
believe me, for it I don't need a sorcerer

The next verses are simple; the expression svaki dan is a time phrase (check 39 For Days: Indefinite Periods):

open (m)
An open palm
bright (f, N-pl)
mislithoughts svaki
each, every (m)
happy thoughts every day
dovest ćewill bring je
her (A)
will bring it (lit ‘her’, refers to sreća)
such (m)
jeis moj
my (m)
such is my plan

The noun misao (misl-) f thought is an example of a feminine noun not in -a which doesn’t end in a consonant.

The next two verses contain two clauses. The first clause is a content clause; check 57 Knowing and Telling: Content and Noun Clauses.

ZnamI know [da
nisamI’m not ista
same (f)
kaolike ti
you (N)
I know [I’m not the same as you]
nemamI don’t have višemore, anymore [zaštowhy bježatirun away] I don’t have [a reason to run away] anymore

However, the second verse contains a clause which has no English counterpart, literally I don’t have [why to run]. Such clauses will be described soon.

The next verse is very simple. However, the verse after it contains the phrase po svom which here translates to as I wish. Actually, it means how the subject of the sentence wishes, since it contains DL of svoj, which is the reflexive possessive. For basic uses of svoj, check 19 Your, Ana’s: Possessives.

Oblakcloud jeis moj
my (m)
A cloud is my home
oblikujemI'm shaping ga
him (A)
poaccording to svom
reflexive possessive (DL)
I’m shaping it as I wish
boring (n)
jeis kretati semove tlomground (I)
it’s boring to move on the ground

The last verse above is a statement where the verb kretati se² move in inf – together with the attached noun tlo ground – is the subject! Here English requires a ‘dummy pronoun’ it, but there are no ‘dummy pronouns’ in Croatian. Since a verb in inf is the subject, the adjective is in neuter singular, and the verb je² is in the 3rd person.

Finally, the noun tlo is in I, since we express "area" where the movement occurs: for more information, see 35 Tools and Means, With and Without.

In the next three verses, it’s always object before the verb (because of the rhyme) and the last object is in DL, as required by the verb pripadati belong.

Samoonly ovuthis (f, A) pjesmusong želimI want I want only this song
samoonly ovaj
this (masc. inan. A = N)
ritamrhythm znamI know
I know only this rhythm
samoonly ovojthis (f, DL) ludojcrazy (f, DL) besmislicinonsense (DL) pripadamI belong I belong only to this crazy nonsense

The following verses are very simple:

Sveeverything jeis crnoblack (n) Everything is black
sveeverything jeis bijelowhite (n) everything is white
alibut životlife nijeisn’t sivgray (m) but the life isn’t gray

The next verses contain two time clauses:

Sveeverything jeis dobro
good (n)
Everything is fine
[dokwhile siyou are zdravhealthy (m)] [while you’re in good health]
iand [dokwhile siyou are živalive (m)] and [while you’re alive]

The next verse contains another content clause, while the third verse is a personal opinion with DL; for more information, see 23 I’m Cold: Basic Impressions.

Znašyou know li
question particle
[zaštowhy svijetworld jošstill, not yet nijeisn’t tvoj
your (m)
Do you know [why the world isn’t yours yet]?
svemueverything (DL) tražišyou're looking for oznakulabel, mark iand brojnumber you are looking for a label and number for everything
iand svatkoeveryone ti
to you (DL)
jeis lošbad (m)
and you find everyone bad
aand ne poznaješyou don't know gahim jošstill, not yet and you don’t know him yet
iand svakog
everyone (A)
svrstavašyou're classifying uin neki
some (masc. inan., A = N)
and you classify everyone in some basket

The next verse contains a phrase blago meni, approximately lucky me:

Blagoriches meni
to me (DL, stressed form)
siyou are takoso ljut
angry (m)
Lucky me, you're so angry
tothat jeis znaksign [da
biramI'm choosing dobar
good (masc. inan., A = N)
putway, path]
that is a sign [I’m choosing a good path]
iand [dokwhile ti
to you (DL)
smetabothers, disturbs sjajshine]
[while the shine disturbs you]
znamI know [da
ne vidišyou don't see mi
to me (DL)
I know [you don't see my limits]
iand [kamowhere to idemI'm going] zatotherefore, for that reason ne pitajdon't ask therefore, don’t ask [where I’m going to]
5 Easy Croatian: Mia: Život nije siv By request, here’s a song by Croatian singer-songwriter Mia Dimšić , performing under her first name only. Highlight nothin...

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