Existential 'ima' and 'nema' — Croatian Grammar

To say "there is" or "there are", Croatian does not use a special phrase like English. It presses the verb "to have" into impersonal service: for "there is / are" and for "there isn't / aren't".

'ima' = There Is / There Are

The single form covers both singular and plural - it never changes for number. What follows it goes into the genitive.

Ima kruha.
There is some bread.
Ima li mjesta?
Is there room?
U gradu ima mnogo turista.
There are many tourists in the city.

'nema' = There Isn't / Aren't

The negative is , again invariant and again followed by the genitive. It is also how you say something is absent or someone is away.

Nema problema.
No problem.
Nema kruha.
There is no bread.
Ane nema doma.
Ana is not home.

The Same Verb Means 'to Have'

With a personal subject the very same verb is ordinary "to have", and then it takes a normal accusative object - only the impersonal "there is" use forces the genitive.

Imam dva brata.
I have two brothers.
Imaš li vremena?
Do you have time?

Stating Quantity

is the natural way to say how much of something there is, paired with a quantity word and the genitive.

Ima dovoljno vode.
There is enough water.
Koliko ima sati?
What time is it?

In the Past and Future

For other tenses, and step aside for the impersonal neuter of : ("there was") and its negative , both still followed by the genitive.

Bilo je puno ljudi.
There were a lot of people.
Nije bilo kruha.
There was no bread.
Bit će problema.
There will be trouble.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Croatian course

66 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 21. A few of them, with the words “Existential 'ima' and 'nema'” is about in bold:

Imam dva auta, dva bicikla i tri motocikla.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33
Dobar dan, doktore. Imam problem.
Hello, Doctor. I have a problem.
Lesson 91
Ona ima spor, jeftin auto.
She has a slow, cheap car.
Lesson 110

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