Breakdown of Susjeda živi iznad nas.
iznad
above
živjeti
to live
nas
us (accusative/genitive)
susjeda
neighbor
Questions & Answers about Susjeda živi iznad nas.
What does each word mean and what are the grammar roles?
- Susjeda = neighbor (female); nominative singular; the subject.
- živi = lives; 3rd person singular present of živjeti.
- iznad = above/over; a preposition that takes the genitive.
- nas = us; genitive (it is also the accusative form, but here it’s genitive because of iznad).
Why is it nas and not mi?
Because prepositions in Croatian require an oblique case. Iznad governs the genitive, and the genitive of mi (we) is nas. Quick reference:
- Nominative (subject): mi
- Genitive/Accusative (after many prepositions): nas
- Dative/Locative/Instrumental: nama After any preposition, use the stressed forms: iznad nas, pred nama, za nas (not iznad mi).
Is susjeda definitely feminine here? Could it be something else?
Here it’s feminine nominative singular (“the female neighbor”), because it’s the subject of živi. Note that susjeda is also the genitive singular of the masculine noun susjed (e.g., bez susjeda = without a (male) neighbor), but that reading is impossible here since subjects are in the nominative.