Breakdown of Slika je naslikana na bijelom platnu.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
slika
picture
bijel
white
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
Questions & Answers about Slika je naslikana na bijelom platnu.
How is the passive voice formed in this sentence?
It uses the auxiliary verb biti (to be) in the present tense — which is je here — combined with the passive participle naslikana (painted). This is just like English, which uses 'is' + 'painted'.
Why does the word naslikana end in -a?
In the passive voice, the passive participle acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender and number. Because the subject slika (painting) is feminine singular, the participle naslikana takes the feminine singular ending -a.
Why are we using the locative case for bijelom platnu?
The preposition na (on) takes the locative case when it describes a static location (where something is). Because the paint is already resting on the canvas, the neuter noun platno (canvas) changes to its locative form platnu, and the adjective bijelo (white) becomes bijelom.
Are the words slika and naslikana related?
Yes, they share the same root! Slika is the noun for a picture or painting, and naslikana comes from the perfective verb naslikati (to paint). So the sentence translates very literally as 'The painting is painted'.