Questions & Answers about Lopov je poslan u zatvor.
Why do we use poslan instead of poslao here?
Poslan is the passive participle. If you wrote Lopov je poslao, it would be the active past tense meaning 'The thief sent' something. By using the passive form poslan, it means the thief is the one who 'was sent'.
What are the endings for the passive participle like poslan?
While the active past tense ends in -o or -la (like poslao), passive participles typically end in -n, -en, or -t. For poslati (to send), the masculine singular passive form is poslan. If the thief were female, it would be poslana.
Why use the perfective verb poslati instead of slati?
Poslati focuses on the completed action of him being successfully sent. If you used the imperfective equivalent slati (making it Lopov je slan u zatvor), it would imply a repeated, ongoing, or unfinished process of sending him.
Why is it u zatvor? Doesn't the preposition u usually trigger the locative case?
The preposition u takes the locative case for a fixed location (being already inside the prison). But because the verb involves motion toward a destination (being sent into it), it requires the accusative case. Since zatvor (prison) is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form.
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