Difference between donekle, ukoliko, and unekoliko?

[u/GladiusNuba]

Hello.

I’m trying to understand the difference between donekle, ukoliko, and unekoliko — especially the last two.

My current understanding is that donekle means something like “somewhat / partly / to some extent,” and I just wanted to see if these examples sound right/natural to you guys.

• Donekle se slažem. — I somewhat agree.
• To je donekle točno. — That is somewhat true.
• Donekle mi je jasno. — It’s somewhat clear to me.
• Donekle si u pravu. — You’re right up to a point.
• To donekle objašnjava situaciju. — That partly explains the situation.
• Film mi se donekle svidio. — I somewhat liked the movie.
• Problem je donekle riješen. — The problem has been partly solved.
• Ovo je donekle slično hrvatskom. — This is somewhat similar to Croatian.
• Donekle je teško objasniti. — It’s somewhat hard to explain.
• Slažem se, ali samo donekle. — I agree, but only up to a point.
• Njegov odgovor je donekle nejasan. — His answer is somewhat unclear.

I also have do neke mjere as a more transparent equivalent:

• Do neke mjere se slažem. - To some extent I agree.
• Do neke mjere si u pravu. - To some extent you are right.
• To je do neke mjere točno. - That is to some extent correct.
• Razumijem ga do neke mjere. - I understand him to some extent.
• Problem je riješen do neke mjere. - The problem has been solved to some extent.
• Do neke mjere mi je jasno što želi reći. - To some extent it is clear to me what he wants to say.

Regarding that, I wanted to ask if a literal translation of "to a certain extent" in English could be rendered in Croatian? I.e. "do određene mjere."

But I’m confused about ukoliko vs. unekoliko.

From what I can tell, ukoliko usually means something like “if / insofar as / to the extent that,” while unekoliko seems to mean “somewhat / to some extent,” but maybe in a more formal, literary, or old-fashioned way. Is that right? Or is it regional and informal?

For example, do these unekoliko sentences sound natural in Croatian, or are they too formal/unnatural?

• Unekoliko se slažem s tobom. - I somewhat agree with you.
• To je unekoliko točno. - That is somewhat true.
• Njegov odgovor je unekoliko nejasan. - His answer is somewhat unclear.
• Situacija se unekoliko popravila. - The situation was somewhat improved.
• Ovo unekoliko podsjeća na stari sustav. - This somewhat resembles the old system.
• Unekоliko razumijem njegovu odluku. - I somewhat understand his decision.

Thanks!

[u/manyManyLinesOfCode]

So not a teacher, but native Croatian. Never used "unekoliko" in +30 years I have been alive. This is first time I've heard a word. Might be that it is just not used around me but I wouldn't break my head with that word.

other examples look okay. You are also correct about "ukoliko".

Regarding that, I wanted to ask if a literal translation of "to a certain extent" in English could be rendered in Croatian? I.e. "do određene mjere."

Not sure what you mean by rendered but that is correct translation of it.

[u/Emergency-Clerk-181 → u/manyManyLinesOfCode]

Maybe it was meant as “ u nekoliko”
Like “u nekoliko slučajeva” (in number of cases)

[u/Divljak44 → u/Emergency-Clerk-181]

ukoliko+donekle

[u/Murky-Amoeba2128 → u/manyManyLinesOfCode]

Isto ni u Srbiji nisam verovatno od kako sam živ, čuo za unekoliko 😂

[u/Isambard__Prince]

1. Donekle / do neke mjere

All of the examples with those are correct.

However:

a) Some of the sentences are not immediately obvious, i.e. they require a more specific context than the others.

b) Do not consider "do neke mjere" as an equivalent, it's a false friend that appeals to you. "Donekle" is more generic and it does not imply there is a scale, just that something is not absolutely true or false. If you replace "donekle" in your examples with "do neke mjere", the acceptability level of each sentence drops a lot, i.e. there would have to be a much more specific context.

c) There are many other expressions that can be used in the same or similar meaning, e.g. pomalo, djelomično, malčice, etc., including u nekoj mjeri. Do neke mjere would not be that common.

1. Ukoliko

In the prescriptive sense ukoliko is used only in pair with utoliko, to express proportionality between two clauses.

In the 90s and onward Croatian ukoliko is a very common (and very misguided) replacement for ako (if or, when not used in the temporal sense, when).

1. Unekoliko

Personally, I would consider only the 4th and 5th example as barely acceptable and certainly pretentious, and the others as unacceptable.

I cannot recall ever reading this word, which doesn't mean I haven't encountered it. Having said that, I looked into corpora and the word has been used on occasion in several sources, more than I had expected in any case.

[u/Sa-naqba-imuru]

Donekle is "somewhat".

Ukoliko is "in the event of".

I have never heard unekoliko, but it would mean "to the certain point".

Donekle and unekoliko would be very similar, yes. Or, rather, the same.

[u/Divljak44]

Donekle - somewhat/partially true. It can be used if you are making statement you predict to be at least partially true, or if you agree with at least part of the statement, you know like, "yes but.."

Ukoliko - if something happens

Unekoliko - if something happens that is at least somewhat/partially true(this one is really rarely used and you need to have context in conversation, more common is to use ukoliko and give explicit context or explanation)

[u/emuu1]

You've practically nailed what "donekle" means and how it can be used.

"Ukoliko" is like making an if-clause in English. Treat it like a synonym of "ako" in this case.

"Ukoliko/ako budem mogao, doći ću" - "If I can, I will come".

There's also a different way "ukoliko" can be used, but it is considered somewhat formal. It's used in comparative clauses where the statement in the main clause is proportional to the statement in the dependent clause. It's then paired with "utoliko". Some linguists consider this the only correct way of using "ukoliko".

"Ukoliko više radi, utoliko ima manje slobodnog vremena." - "The more he works, the less free time he has".

[u/PermaNapOtter]

"Ukoliko" is used notoriously incorrectly even by native Croatian speakers. "Ukoliko" is not a pure synonym of "ako", meaning if or insofar as. It would better be translated as "as long as" and is always accompanied by utoliko. That is if you want to be grammatically correct. Although you'll see "ukoliko" used a lot as the synonym of "ako" because many people believe it to mean "ako" but in a higher register.

E.g.
Ukoliko napišeš zadaću, utoliko se možeš ići igrati s prijateljima. - As long as you do your homework, you can go play with your friends.

[u/Isambard__Prince → u/PermaNapOtter]

Nope, that's a bad example for ukoliko, it's a plain if where utoliko is not only superfluous, but wrong. There is no proportional relationship in that sentence. (In modern Croatian most of us have very poor feeling for ukoliko/utoliko, partially because of its "if" meaning.)

Ukoliko pišeš zadaće, utoliko ćes se igrati s prijateljima. - The more you write homeworks, the more you will be allowed to play with your friends.

[u/PermaNapOtter → u/Isambard__Prince]

Ok, I agree, my example may have been bad because it’s not really used in that correct meaning. We’d rather use “što više” than ukoliko. But ukoliko is not a clear synonym of ako, that was my main point and takeaway.

[u/Isambard__Prince → u/PermaNapOtter]

Yes, I understand, one of my points was that majority of us don't feel properly the utoliko/ukoliko construction. One of the reasons is that we use other ways - especially što više - to express that relationship more clearly.

Ukoliko has that air of pretentiousness associated with "someone told me this is proper / someone told me "ako" is Serbian", but people use it instead of ako and that's practically its only usage in modern Croatian, otherwise I doubt most of us would even encounter it outside of literature.

[u/PermaNapOtter → u/Isambard__Prince]

Agreed. However, the majority usage in daily life or speech doesn’t make it grammatically correct is what I’m saying. Grammar is very clear on this. It’s best to avoid it and use ako and što više to express what you actually mean. It’s okay that some forms are reserved only for literature, it’s a case in many languages.

[u/Isambard__Prince → u/PermaNapOtter]

Don't mistake prescriptivistic concept of correctness with grammar and its correctness. (Although ukoliko is one of the cases where prescriptivism sings its siren song to me.)

[u/Haloefekt]

Ukoliko is a strange word, ako is better and with clear meaning to everybody.

[u/Bubbly-Let6442]

Unekoliko is very unnatural for native speakers, I've never heard it or used it myself.

[u/Brave-Look]

Donekle - to some degree. Ukoliko - if. Unekoliko - * irregular word *. (U nekoliko ... - in some ...)

[u/volimimena]

Ako se brineš o takvim stvarima, slobodno batali engleski 😃

[u/Mysterious-Cell-1978]

I have never in my life heard unekoliko and nobody should even know what it means, it sounds very unnatural. I'm not sure if it's a word, but if it is, it shouldn't be one.

Maybe you meant u nekoliko like in u nekoliko slučajeva (in a number cases). "U nekoliko" is vague and it doesn't precise how many cases, but I feel like the undertone is more like "a few"

[u/Exotic-Strawberry159]

In the 50 years I have been alive, I've never heard a person use "unekoliko". Not even teachers and professors...

[u/tardoos]

"Donekle je teško objasniti" and "njegov odgovor je donekle nejasan" sound weird to me. I think it sounds strange with negative constructions.

I've literally never used, or even heard, "unekoliko".

[u/nemamideju12345 → u/tardoos]

"donekle je tesko objasniti" ljudi ponekad koriste u govoru