Breakdown of Štene je vrlo zaigrano.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
vrlo
very (formal)
štene
puppy
zaigran
playful
Questions & Answers about Štene je vrlo zaigrano.
Why does the adjective end in -o (zaigrano) if it describes a noun? Doesn't -o usually make it an adverb?
While many adverbs end in -o, here zaigrano is the neuter singular form of the adjective zaigran (playful). It must match the neuter noun štene (puppy). If you were talking about an adult dog (pas, masculine), you would say pas je vrlo zaigran.
Is štene a standard neuter noun, and does it decline like selo?
It is neuter, but it doesn't decline exactly like selo. Words for young animals and beings that end in -e (like štene, mače, dijete) add an -et- infix in all other cases. For example, the genitive (of the puppy) is šteneta, and the dative (to the puppy) is štenetu.
Could I use jako instead of vrlo in this sentence?
Yes, jako and vrlo are completely interchangeable here. Both mean 'very' when placed before an adjective. While jako can also mean 'strongly' or 'hard' when modifying a verb, in this context it works perfectly as a synonym for vrlo.
If I wanted to emphasize how playful it is by putting that part first, could I say Vrlo zaigrano je štene?
You can bring the adjective phrase to the front, but you must remember that je is a clitic (an unstressed word that must take the second position in a sentence). Because of this rule, the clitic often breaks up the phrase, so it is more natural to say Vrlo je zaigrano štene.
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