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Questions & Answers about Stablo je zeleno.
Why does the adjective zeleno end in -o?
In this lesson, we learn that adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The noun stablo is neuter. To make the base adjective zelen (green) match a neuter noun, you add an -o to the end, making it zeleno.
How do I know that stablo is a neuter noun?
You can usually tell a Croatian noun's gender by looking at its last letter. Words ending in a consonant are typically masculine, words ending in -a are feminine, and words ending in -o or -e (like stablo) are neuter.
Where is the word for "the" in this sentence?
Croatian doesn't use articles like "the", "a", or "an". The word stablo alone means "tree", but depending on the context, we translate it as "the tree" or "a tree" in English so it sounds natural.
Why is je placed right after stablo?
je is a short form of the verb "to be" (meaning "is"). These short words have a strict rule in Croatian: they almost always want to sit in the second position of a sentence. Because stablo is the first word, je naturally takes the second spot.