When answering the question gdje (where at), Croatian uses a specific set of spatial prepositions. To describe a stationary position—where someone or something simply rests, sleeps, stands, or sits—these prepositions must be followed by the Instrumental case.
Under and Above: Pod and Nad
To describe vertical placement, use pod (under) and nad (above). Notice how the nouns and adjectives that follow them take the Instrumental case endings.
| We are sleeping under the new roof. | Spavamo pod novim krovom. |
| The dog was sitting under the table in the kitchen. | Pas je sjedio pod stolom u kuhinji. |
| The birds are flying above the hill. | Ptice lete nad brdom. |
In Front Of and Behind: Pred and Za
To describe positioning forward and backward, use pred (in front of) and za (behind).
| Who is standing in front of the fence? | Tko stoji pred ogradom? |
| Cats often sleep in front of houses. | Mačke često spavaju pred kućama. |
| The child is hiding behind the curtain. | Dijete se skriva za zavjesom. |
There is a very common idiom using za: when people are sitting "at" a table, Croatian expresses this as sitting "behind" the table.
| All the guests are sitting at the table. | Svi gosti sjede za stolom. |
Among: Među
When someone or something is located between or among multiple items, use među. Because it implies being surrounded by multiple things, the noun that follows it is usually in the plural Instrumental case.
| The bear lives among these caves. | Medvjed živi među ovim špiljama. |
| She is the most beautiful among the girls. | Ona je najljepša među djevojkama. |
Putting It Together
You will often use these prepositions together to describe a larger scene. Because they all describe a stationary location, they all reliably trigger the Instrumental case.
| The dog is standing in front of the fence, and the cat is sitting behind the fence. | Pas stoji pred ogradom, a mačka sjedi za ogradom. |
| The dog is lying under the bench in front of the stone. | Pas leži pod klupom pred kamenom. |
