language question, need help!

[lelong]

Hi, I was wondering if, in Croatian, "pogrebnika" is used as the feminine version of "pogrebnik", meaning "undertaker". Any help with this would be appreciated! Thanks!

[brightside]

Hello lelong,
it's pogrebnik (masc.) and pogrebnica (fem.)
But if you're advertising a business for ex., you don't need to say pogrebnica... We usually use the masculine form in such cases.

[quest]

"Usluge pogrebnika" means "undertaker services".
The word "pogrebnika" here is the masculine form with the ending "a".

[brightside]

Or, to confuse you even more, "pogrebnika" is genitive of the word pogrebnik.

[lelong]

Thanks a lot for the help everyone!

So you say that pogrebnik is used more often anyhow, brightside. I'm currently in college to be a funeral director / embalmer in the United States [Texas], & I will be going to Croatia this summer & visiting some of my family there [near Ogulin]. Should I say that I am studying to become a "pogrebnica" or "pogrebnik"? & when I get my licensing, would it be more appropriate to say that I am a "pogrebnik" or a "pogrebnica".

[Just to note, in case it isn't clear, I'm a girl.]

[brightside]

The way I'd go about it in most cases would be to avoid saying pogrebnik and pogrebnica altogether and just say "bavim se pogrebništvom" (I'm into undertaking). But if you just want to explain to your family and friends what you're studying to become, then say pogrebnica.
It's a different story if you're opening a business. In that case I'd advise you to choose the "pogrebnik" version - for ex. if you're advertising it in the yellow pages and the likes. But if you need to state your occupation in some kind of a document, feel free to write pogrebnica, although pogrebnik would be no mistake either. All in all, you can say both. It's just a matter of preference in a particular situation, but it's not that important.
Wow, I really managed to complicate this beyond belief.

[elaine]

Not at all, you just give very full and precise answers! Always very impressive!!!