Questions & Answers about Onda je išao u grad.
Why does je come right after Onda instead of next to išao?
je is a short, unstressed word called a clitic. Croatian has a strict rule for these: they almost always want to be in the second position of a sentence. Because Onda takes up the first position, the helper verb je jumps right behind it, naturally separating it from the main action word išao.
Where is the word for "he" in this sentence?
In Croatian, subject pronouns like on (he) are usually dropped because the verb endings already tell you who is doing the action. The masculine "-o" ending on išao combined with the helper verb je clearly means "he went". You would only say Onda je on išao if you wanted to emphasize that he went, rather than someone else.
If the dictionary form of the verb is ići (to go), why does the past tense form look like išao?
The verb ići is highly irregular in the past tense. Instead of following the normal pattern, its past tense forms are built on a completely different base (iš-). For a male, "went" is išao, for a female it is išla, and for a mixed group it is išli. Because "to go" is used so often, these forms just have to be memorized!
Doesn't the preposition u usually change the noun's ending? Why is it just u grad?
The preposition u takes two different grammatical cases depending on the meaning. If you are already located in the city, it takes the locative case (u gradu). But when there is motion toward a destination, it takes the accusative case. For masculine, non-living nouns like grad, the accusative case looks exactly like the dictionary form, so the word doesn't change.
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