Stol je prazan.

to be

Breakdown of Stol je prazan.

• stol: table
• prazan: empty

Questions & Answers about Stol je prazan.

Why is there no word for “the” in Stol je prazan? Does Croatian have articles?

Croatian does not have articles like English a/an or the.

• Stol je prazan can mean “A table is empty” or “The table is empty”, depending on context.
• If you want to be more specific, Croatian usually uses demonstratives:
  
  • Ovaj stol je prazan. – This table is empty.
  • Taj stol je prazan. – That table is empty.
  • Onaj stol je prazan. – That table (over there) is empty.

So the idea of definiteness (which table?) is expressed by context or demonstrative words, not by articles.

What does je mean in this sentence?

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb biti (to be).

Roughly, it equals English “is” in this sentence:

• Stol je prazan. – The table *is empty.*

The full present tense of biti (to be) is:

• ja sam – I am
• ti si – you are (singular, informal)
• on/ona/ono je – he/she/it is
• mi smo – we are
• vi ste – you are (plural or formal)
• oni/one/ona su – they are