There is, there are (ima)

The other half of nema

You already know nema — there is no — and that it takes the genitive. Its positive partner is ima, there is / there are, and it takes the genitive too:

Both are frozen in the third person singular. They never agree with anything, which makes the pair one of the easiest things in Croatian.

Asking whether something exists

Put li after it, exactly as with any other verb: Ima li…? — Is there…?

Careful: ima is also "has"

ima is the ordinary third-person form of imati as well. The difference is the case: On ima auto (accusative — he has a car) against Ima vode (genitive — there is water). The genitive is the signal that you are talking about existence.

Three useful nouns

stvar is thing, život is life, and red is order — and also the queue you stand in.