Kontakt s policijom je važan.

to be

Breakdown of Kontakt s policijom je važan.

• s: with
• važan: important
• policija: police

Questions & Answers about Kontakt s policijom je važan.

Why is it s policijom and not s policija?

Because the preposition s normally requires the instrumental case in Croatian when it means with.

• base form: policija = police
• instrumental singular: policijom

So:

• s policijom = with the police

This is a very common pattern:

• s prijateljem = with a friend
• s obitelji = with the family
• s učiteljem = with the teacher

In this sentence, kontakt s policijom literally means contact with the police.

What case is kontakt in?

Kontakt is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

You can identify it by asking: What is important?

Answer: Kontakt s policijom.

So the structure is:

• Kontakt s policijom = subject
• je = is
• važan = important

Why is it važan and not važna or važno?