Relational Adjectives — Bosnian Grammar

Besides describing qualities (big, new, good), Bosnian has a large class of relational adjectives that say what something relates to or is made of - like English "bus stop", "wooden table" or "Chinese food". They are built from nouns, usually with the suffix -ski, -čki or -ni.

What They Mean

A relational adjective ties a thing to another noun - a place, a field, a purpose.

autobusna stanica
bus stop
benzinska pumpa
gas station
zoološki vrt
zoo (zoological garden)
željeznička stanica
railway station

Nationalities and Languages

Adjectives of nationality are relational, and - unlike English - they are written in lowercase.

Hajdemo jesti kinesku hranu.
Let's eat Chinese food.
Ona voli špansku hranu.
She loves Spanish food.
Znaš li neku njemačku riječ?
Do you know any German word?
Koje ste nacionalnosti? Australske?
What nationality are you? Australian?

Materials

They also state what something is made of.

plastična vrećica
a plastic bag
zlatna ogrlica
a gold necklace

Always Definite, Never Compared

Relational adjectives have only the long (definite) form, because they classify rather than rate a quality - there is no short version. For the same reason they have no comparative or superlative: a stop cannot be "more bus" than another. They still decline normally for gender, number and case.

Imamo važan grupni zadatak.
We have an important group task.
Ovo je državni praznik.
This is a national holiday.

Built from Everyday Nouns

Many come straight from nouns you already know, naming what the thing is for or where it belongs.

kancelarijska stolica
office chair (from kancelarija, office)
vozačka dozvola
driving license
morski plodovi
seafood (from more, sea)
kućna svinja
domestic pig

A Quick Test

A quality adjective accepts "very" or "too" and forms a comparative; a relational one does not. Try putting "very" in front of the English: "very new clothes" is fine, "very Chinese food" is not - so is relational.

Trebam novu odjeću.
I need new clothes. (quality - could be "very new")
Idem gledati pozorišnu predstavu.
I am going to a theatre show. (relational - a show cannot be "very theatre")
Imam spavaću sobu.
I have a bedroom. (relational - a room for sleeping, not a "sleepy" room)

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Bosnian course

30 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 37. A few of them, with the words “Relational Adjectives” is about in bold:

Da. Hajdemo jesti kinesku hranu.
Yes. Let's eat Chinese food.
Lesson 127

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