Ova situacija je problem.

This situation is a problem.

Breakdown of Ova situacija je problem.

• biti: to be
• problem: problem
• ovaj: this
• situacija: a situation

Questions & Answers about Ova situacija je problem.

Why is it ova and not ovaj or ovo?

Because ova has to agree with situacija in gender, number, and case.

• situacija is feminine
• it is singular
• here it is in the nominative

So the correct form of this is ova.

Compare:

• ova situacija = this situation
• ovaj problem = this problem
• ovo pitanje = this question

So English this has one form, but Croatian changes the form to match the noun.

Is situacija feminine just because it ends in -a?

Usually, yes. In Croatian, nouns ending in -a are very often feminine, and situacija is one of them.

So:

• situacija = feminine singular noun
• nominative singular form = situacija

That is why it combines with ova and with the singular verb je.

There are some exceptions in Croatian, but for a learner, -a often means feminine is a very useful rule.

What exactly is je here?