Word
Tko je prolio vodu po stolu?
Meaning
Who spilled water across the table?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Tko je prolio vodu po stolu?
Why do we use po stolu here instead of na stol?
The preposition po combined with the locative case (stolu) usually means "all over" or "across the surface of". While na stol just means the water went onto the table, po stolu emphasizes that the spill spread across the table's surface.
Why is the auxiliary verb je placed right after tko?
The verb je is an enclitic, which is a grammar term for a "weak" word that cannot start a sentence. Enclitics almost always want to be in the second position in a sentence, so it neatly follows the first word, tko.
What case is vodu, and why did the ending change from voda?
vodu is the accusative case of the feminine noun voda (water). We use the accusative case here because the water is the direct object, meaning it is the thing being acted upon or spilled.
Why is the verb prolio in the masculine form if we don't know who spilled the water?
In Croatian, the question word tko (who) always uses the default masculine singular form for past tense verbs. Even if the person who spilled the water turns out to be female, you still must ask the question using the masculine form prolio.