Breakdown of Što je pod onim starim krovom?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
što
what
star
old
onaj
that (over there) / the one (who)
pod
under (+ instrumental)
krov
roof
Questions & Answers about Što je pod onim starim krovom?
Why is the phrase onim starim krovom in the instrumental case instead of the accusative?
Because of the preposition pod (under). When pod is used to talk about a stationary location—where something currently is—it requires the instrumental case. If we were talking about motion towards a destination (for example, 'going under the roof'), we would use the accusative case instead.
What is the base dictionary form of the word onim?
The base form is onaj, which means 'that' (specifically, pointing to something far away from both the speaker and the listener). Here, onim is its masculine singular instrumental form, which is used to match the gender and case of the noun it modifies, krovom (roof).
What are the standard instrumental endings for masculine adjectives and nouns used here?
Masculine adjectives take the ending -im, which turns star (old) into starim. Standard masculine nouns take the ending -om, turning krov (roof) into krovom. (As a quick reminder, masculine nouns ending in a 'soft' consonant would take -em instead).
Why is the word je placed right after Što?
je is an enclitic, which is a 'weak' word that doesn't have its own spoken stress. In Croatian grammar, enclitics strictly belong in the second position of a sentence or clause. The question word Što takes the first position, so je must be tucked in immediately behind it.
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