Sol je na stolu; juha je već slana.

Croatian has no articles. Definiteness is inferred from context, word order, or demonstratives. Sol je na stolu naturally means “the salt is on the table.” If you need to be explicit, you can say:

• Ta sol je na stolu (that/the salt is on the table). There is no general word for “a/an.”

With na, use:

• Locative for location (where?): na stolu.
• Accusative for direction (onto/where to?): na stol. Examples:
• Static: Sol je na stolu.
• Motion: Stavi sol na stol.

Stolu is locative singular. Key singular forms:

• Nominative: stol
• Genitive: stola
• Dative: stolu
• Accusative: stol
• Locative: stolu (after prepositions like na, o)
• Instrumental: stolom

Yes. Both Sol je na stolu and Na stolu je sol are fine. Croatian word order is flexible and used for emphasis/topicalization:

• Sol je na stolu emphasizes the location of the salt.
• Na stolu je sol emphasizes what is on the table (it’s salt). In both, the clitic je must appear in the second position of the clause.

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Juha is feminine singular, so the predicate adjective is feminine singular: slana.

• Masculine: slan (e.g., Bujon je slan.)
• Feminine: slana (e.g., Juha je slana.)
• Neuter: slano (e.g., Jelo je slano.)

Yes. Sol is feminine. Some feminine nouns end in a consonant (e.g., noć, stvar, bol, sol). A few useful forms:

• Nominative: sol
• Genitive/Locative/Dative: soli
• Instrumental: solju (e.g., posuto solju)

Je is a clitic (short, unstressed form of “to be”) and follows the “second position” rule: it must come after the first stressed word or phrase in the clause. So:

• Correct: Juha je već slana.
• Also correct if fronting an adverb: Već je juha slana.
• Odd/incorrect: Juha već je slana.

Here već means “already.” Još typically means “still/yet.”

• Juha je već slana. = The soup is already salty.
• Juha je još slana. = The soup is still salty.
• Juha još nije slana. = The soup isn’t salty yet. Note: već can also function (especially with a preceding negation) like “but rather”: Ne juha, već čorba.

Yes:

• Slana = salty (describes taste/level of saltiness).
• Posoljena = salted (focuses on the action/result of adding salt). So juha je posoljena means it has been salted, not necessarily that it tastes salty. For “too salty,” use preslana or previše slana.

Yes, across Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian:

• sol (Croatian) vs so (Serbian/Bosnian).
• juha (Croatian) vs supa/čorba (Serbian/Bosnian; čorba often thicker).
• stol (Croatian) vs sto (Serbian/Bosnian for “table”; in Croatian, sto usually means “hundred”). All are widely understood, but forms differ by standard.