Questions & Answers about Njegova soba je prazna.
Since the room belongs to a man ('his'), why does the word for 'his' end in '-a' (Njegova)?
In Croatian, possessive words like njegov (his) must match the gender of the thing being owned, not the owner. Because soba (room) is a feminine noun, you have to use the feminine form njegova. The root of the word tells us the owner is male, but the ending matches the feminine room.
If the sentence meant 'Her room is empty,' how would the possessive word change?
To say 'her,' you use the base word njezin (or njen). Because soba is feminine, you add the feminine ending -a to make it njezina. The whole sentence would be Njezina soba je prazna. This shows how the possessive word changes based on both the owner (his vs. her) and the object owned (the feminine room).
Why is the word for empty prazna instead of the dictionary form prazan?
Just like the possessive word, adjectives must match the noun they describe. Since soba is a feminine noun in the subject position (nominative case), the adjective takes the feminine ending -a, changing from prazan to prazna.
Why isn't the little verb je placed immediately after Njegova?
The words Njegova soba (his room) act together as a single block of meaning. Short connecting verbs like je want to be in the 'second position' of a sentence. This rule allows the second position to be either after the very first word, or after the first complete phrase. Both are correct, but keeping the subject phrase together is very natural here.
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