Breakdown of Strojevi propadaju u prašnjavoj dvorani gdje su radnici pjevali.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
gdje
where
pjevati
to sing
u
in, into
radnik
worker
dvorana
hall
stroj
machine
propadati
to decay
prašnjav
dusty
Questions & Answers about Strojevi propadaju u prašnjavoj dvorani gdje su radnici pjevali.
I thought gdje was a question word meaning 'where'. How does it work here?
You are used to seeing gdje in questions, but here it acts as a relative adverb. It connects the main sentence to a spatial clause. Instead of asking a question, gdje points back to the prašnjavoj dvorani (dusty hall) to describe it as the specific place where an action happened.
Why does the little auxiliary word su come right after gdje?
This is a great reminder of the strict second-position rule for clitics (short, unstressed words). A relative word like gdje introduces a brand new clause and takes the first position in that clause. Therefore, the enclitic su must jump into the second position immediately after it, giving us gdje su radnici pjevali.
Why is the phrase u prašnjavoj dvorani in the locative case instead of the accusative?
The preposition u takes the accusative case when there is motion toward a destination, but it takes the locative case for a static location. Since the machines are just sitting inside the hall decaying, there is no motion or destination involved, so we must use the locative case.
Why is the verb propadaju used in its imperfective form here?
Propadati means to decay, rot, or deteriorate. The imperfective aspect is used because the sentence describes an ongoing, continuous process—the machines are slowly decaying over time. If they had already completely rusted away to nothing, you would use the perfective counterpart propasti.
Why do the masculine plurals strojevi and radnici end differently?
Most short, one-syllable masculine nouns like stroj (machine) take a long plural ending, adding -evi or -ovi. However, radnik (worker) has two syllables, so it takes the standard short plural ending -i. Adding this -i also triggers a mandatory sound change, turning the final k into a c to make radnici.
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