Grad je lijep.

to be

Breakdown of Grad je lijep.

• grad: city
• lijep: beautiful

Questions & Answers about Grad je lijep.

What are the parts of speech and forms in this sentence?

• grad — noun, masculine, singular, nominative (the subject)
• je — 3rd person singular present of biti (to be); an enclitic (weak, short form)
• lijep — adjective, masculine singular nominative, short/indefinite form used predicatively

Where is “the”? Why is there no article?

Croatian has no articles. Grad je lijep can mean either “The city is beautiful” or “A city is beautiful,” depending on context. Definiteness is inferred from context or additional words (like demonstratives).

Why is it lijep, not lijepa or lijepo?

Adjectives agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case. Grad is masculine singular nominative, so the adjective is lijep. Examples for other genders:

• Kuća je lijepa. (house, feminine)
• Selo je lijepo. (village, neuter)

Can I say Grad je lijepi?

Not in standard predicative use. After biti (to be), Croatian uses the short/indefinite form: lijep. The long/definite form lijepi is used mainly attributively before a noun with a definite sense (e.g., lijepi grad) or for stylistic/poetic effect, but not as a normal predicate: say Grad je lijep, not Grad je lijepi.

Can I change the word order?

Yes, for emphasis or style:

• Neutral: Grad je lijep.
• Emphatic/focused on the adjective: Lijep je grad. (puts focus on “beautiful”) Note the clitic je tends to stay in second position.

How do I make it plural?

• Gradovi su lijepi. (Cities are beautiful.) Verb agrees in number (je → su) and the adjective becomes masculine plural (lijepi). Parallel patterns:
• Kuće su lijepe. (feminine plural)
• Sela su lijepa. (neuter plural)

How do I ask “Is the city beautiful?” in Croatian?

• Standard: Je li grad lijep?
• Colloquial contraction: Je l’ grad lijep?
• Note: Da li je grad lijep? is common regionally but not preferred in standard Croatian.

How do I negate it?

• Grad nije lijep. (The city is not beautiful.) Negatives of biti: nisam, nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu.

How do I intensify it or use synonyms?

• Grad je vrlo/jako lijep. (very)
• Grad je prelijep. (extremely beautiful; prefix pre-)
• Synonyms: prekrasan, divan (The city is magnificent/wonderful.)

Pronunciation tips?

• grad: g-rad, with a tapped/rolled r; final d is clear.
• je: sounds like “ye.”
• lijep: “lyep”; lj is a single sound (like the ll in “million”), and j is “y.”

Which case is used after je? Are both sides nominative?

Yes. With the copula biti (to be), both the subject and a predicate noun/adjective are in the nominative:

• Grad je lijep.
• Grad je metropola.

When would I use jest instead of je?

jest is the full/emphatic form, used for emphasis or in formal/contradictory contexts:

• Grad jest lijep. (The city is indeed beautiful.)
• Jest, ali… (Yes/indeed, but…) In everyday speech, je is the norm.

Why does je come second?

Because je is a clitic and Croatian places clitics in second position of the clause (after the first stressed word/phrase). Hence:

• Grad je lijep.
• Lijep je grad.