Breakdown of Mačka spava na krevetu.
mačka
cat
spavati
to sleep
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
krevet
bed
Questions & Answers about Mačka spava na krevetu.
Why does the word for bed end in -u here (krevetu)?
Because it is in the locative case! The preposition na (on) indicates a location, which means the noun following it must be in the locative case. For masculine nouns like krevet (bed), you add an -u to the end, making it krevetu.
Can I use u instead of na in this sentence?
Yes, you can say Mačka spava u krevetu. However, na means "on" (sleeping on top of the bed), while u means "in" (sleeping inside the bed, like under the covers). Both prepositions use the exact same locative ending -u for masculine nouns.
How do I know if spava means "sleeps" or "is sleeping"?
You tell from the context. Croatian doesn't have a separate "is doing" tense like English does. Mačka spava translates to both "the cat sleeps" (as a habit) and "the cat is sleeping" (right now). Here, "is sleeping" makes the most sense.
I see mačka ends in -a. Does that mean it's a feminine noun?
Yes, mačka is a feminine noun. In Croatian, it is used as the default, generic word for any cat. There is a specific masculine word for a tomcat (mačak), but mačka is much more common for cats in general.
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