Learn Croatian: Ove knjige su zanimljive. - These books are interesting.

In Croatian, adjectives and pointing words must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. The word knjiga (book) is a feminine noun. When making feminine nouns plural, the ending changes to -e, becoming knjige. Therefore, the words for 'these' (ove) and 'interesting' (zanimljive) also take the feminine plural -e ending to match.

I thought the verb su (are) had to be the exact second word in the sentence. Why is it the third word here?

The verb su is an enclitic, a short word that usually goes in the second position of a sentence. However, the second position doesn't always mean the second single word. Here, Ove knjige (These books) acts together as a single connected phrase. Therefore, su naturally falls into the second grammatical position right after that complete phrase.

What is the dictionary form of the word ove?

The dictionary form is ovaj (this), which is the masculine singular form. Because knjiga is feminine, you use the feminine singular form ova for one book, and the feminine plural form ove for multiple books.

What is the base form of the adjective zanimljive?