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Questions & Answers about Ana je u školi.
What is the role of je in Ana je u školi, and can I leave it out?
je is the 3rd person singular present of the verb biti (to be). It links the subject Ana with her location. In standard Croatian you need it here. Colloquially someone might drop it, but that’s non-standard and not recommended when you’re learning.
Why is školi not in the nominative form škola?
The preposition u meaning “in/at” when showing static location requires the locative case. The noun škola (nominative) becomes školi (locative) to mean “in/at school.”
What if Ana is going to school instead of being there?
Movement toward a place uses u + the accusative case and a motion verb. You’d say Ana ide u školu. Here škola → školu (accusative) and ide means “goes.”
Can I use na instead of u, as in Ana je na školi?
Typically no. na + locative often means “on (the)” or applies to some institutions (like na fakultetu, “at university”). For school you almost always say u školi to express “inside/at school.”
Why is there no “the” or “a” before školi?
Croatian has no definite or indefinite articles. You simply say u školi for both “in school” and “in the school,” relying on context instead of words like “a” or “the.”
How would I say “Ana and Marko are at school”?
Join the subjects with i (“and”) and use the plural form of biti, which is su.
Ana i Marko su u školi.
How do I make the sentence negative?
Insert the particle ni before the verb:
Ana nije u školi.
This means “Ana is not at school.”
Where do I put the stress in školi, and how do I pronounce š?
The letter š is like English “sh” [ʃ]. The word školi is pronounced [ˈʃkɔli], with the main stress on the first syllable (ŠKO-li).
Can I change the word order to U školi je Ana, and does it still mean the same?
Yes. Croatian word order is flexible. U školi je Ana still means “Ana is at school,” but by putting the location first you emphasize where rather than who.
Why is Ana capitalized, and are Croatian capitalization rules like English?
Proper names are always capitalized in Croatian just as in English. Beyond names and the first word of a sentence, you generally don’t capitalize common nouns.