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.