Breakdown of Putujem u novi grad; autobus je ispred kuće.
biti
to be
kuća
house
u
to
grad
city
nov
new
ispred
in front of
autobus
bus
putovati
to travel
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Questions & Answers about Putujem u novi grad; autobus je ispred kuće.
Why is the preposition u followed by novi grad in the accusative? And why is the adjective novi in this form?
When expressing movement toward a place in Croatian, u takes the accusative case. Grad (city) is a masculine inanimate noun, so its accusative singular form is grad (identical to the nominative). Adjectives agree in gender, number, and case: for masculine inanimate accusative singular you use novi. If you instead describe location (being inside), you’d switch to the locative: u novom gradu (“in a new city”).
What case does ispred govern in ispred kuće and why is kuća changed to kuće?
Ispred is a preposition that always takes the genitive case. The noun kuća (house) in genitive singular becomes kuće, so ispred kuće literally means “in front of the house.”
What is the function of je in autobus je ispred kuće?
Je is the third-person singular present of the verb biti (to be). It acts as a copula linking the subject (autobus) with the prepositional phrase (ispred kuće) that describes its location.
Why is a semicolon (;) used between Putujem u novi grad and autobus je ispred kuće? Could I use a comma or another punctuation mark?
A semicolon links two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. It’s stronger than a comma and indicates a tight connection: “I’m traveling to a new city; the bus is in front of the house.” You could replace it with a period or dash for style, but a comma alone would create a run-on sentence.
Does Croatian use articles like a or the before autobus? Why is there none here?
Croatian has no definite or indefinite articles. Nouns appear without a or the; definiteness is understood from context or word order rather than separate words.
How flexible is the word order in autobus je ispred kuće? Could I say Ispred kuće je autobus?
Croatian word order is quite flexible due to case endings. The neutral order is Subject–Verb–Phrase (Autobus je ispred kuće). You can front the prepositional phrase for emphasis: Ispred kuće je autobus (“It’s the bus that’s in front of the house”), shifting the focus but keeping the same basic meaning.
How do you pronounce kuće, especially the letter ć? How is it different from č?
Kuće is pronounced [ˈkut͡ɕe]. The letter ć is a softer, palatalized “ch” sound, somewhat between English ch in “chew” and ty in “tune.” In contrast, č (as in čaj) is a harder affricate [t͡ʃ], like the “ch” in “church.”