Questions & Answers about Mala stabla su tamo.
Stabla ends in -a. Doesn't that usually mean it's a feminine singular noun?
It often does, but stablo (tree) is a neuter noun because it ends in -o in its singular form. When regular neuter nouns become plural, their ending changes to -a. You have to remember the singular form to tell them apart!
Why is the adjective mala (small) instead of mali or malo?
Adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Because stabla is neuter and plural, the adjective takes the neuter plural ending, which is also -a. So, malo stablo (small tree) becomes mala stabla (small trees).
I thought the verb su (are) has to be the second word. Why is it third here?
Su is an enclitic (a short, unstressed word), so it must go in the second grammatical position of the sentence. However, mala stabla works together as a single, unbreakable noun phrase. The entire phrase counts as the first position, making su perfectly placed in the second position.
Where is the word for "the" in this sentence?
Croatian does not use articles like "the" or "a". The phrase mala stabla can translate to either "small trees" or "the small trees", depending entirely on the context of the conversation.
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