Learn Hardcore Croatian: Fotografija s mosta pokazuje cijeli grad i rijeku. - The photograph from the bridge shows the whole city and the river.

s (+ genitive) = from/off a surface or higher place
- s mosta – from the bridge
- sa stola – from the table
iz (+ genitive) = from the inside of something
- iz kuće – out of the house
- iz grada – out of the city
od (+ genitive) = from (a person/source), away from
- od prijatelja – from a friend
- od kuće – away from home
na = on/onto/at (with different cases), not “from”

Since a bridge is something you are on (a surface) rather than inside, s mosta is the natural choice for “from the bridge”.

Why is the subject fotografija, and how do we know it’s the subject?

Fotografija (photo, photograph) is the subject of the sentence because:

It’s in the nominative case (dictionary form).
It is the thing that does the action of the verb pokazuje (shows).

Basic Croatian word order is usually Subject – Verb – Object, just like English:

Fotografija (subject) pokazuje (verb) cijeli grad i rijeku (objects).

So: The photograph shows the whole town and the river.

What form is pokazuje, and what verb does it come from?

Pokazuje is:

3rd person singular
Present tense
From the verb pokazivati (to show, to be showing)

So pokazuje = “(he/she/it) shows / is showing”.

You might also see pokazati (perfective verb) which is often used for a single completed act: “to show (once, to completion)”.
Pokazivati (imperfective) focuses more on the ongoing or general action: “to be showing / to show (in general)”.

In this sentence, pokazuje works like English shows.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before fotografija or grad?

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

Definiteness is expressed by context, sometimes by word order, and sometimes by additional words.

So:

Fotografija can mean a photograph or the photograph.
cijeli grad can mean the whole town or a whole town, depending on context.

Here, natural English would be: The photograph from the bridge shows the whole town and the river.

Why is it cijeli grad and not cijelog grada?

Because cijeli grad is the direct object of the verb pokazuje.

pokazivati takes the accusative case for what is shown.
grad (town/city) in the accusative singular is the same as the nominative: grad.
The adjective cijeli (whole, entire) must agree in case, number, and gender with grad.

So:

Masculine singular nominative/accusative: cijeli grad
Genitive would be cijelog grada, but the verb here needs accusative, not genitive.

Why is cijeli masculine when fotografija is feminine?

Adjectives agree with the noun they directly describe, not with other nouns in the sentence.

Fotografija is feminine, but cijeli belongs to grad, which is masculine.
So we get:
- cijela fotografija (feminine) – the whole photograph
- cijeli grad (masculine) – the whole town

In the sentence, cijeli describes grad, not fotografija, so it must be masculine.

Why is it rijeku and not rijeka?

Rijeka (river) is a feminine noun. In the sentence it is also a direct object, so it must be in the accusative case.

Nominative singular (dictionary form): rijeka
Accusative singular: rijeku

The verb pokazuje “shows” takes objects in the accusative, so we say:

pokazuje rijeku – shows (the) river

Why is there no adjective before rijeku? Should it be cijelu rijeku?

It’s perfectly correct as written: cijeli grad i rijeku.

You have two options in Croatian:

Share the adjective only with the first noun (as in the original):
- cijeli grad i rijeku
  This is common and understood as “the whole town and (the) river.”
Repeat the adjective for clarity or emphasis:
- cijeli grad i cijelu rijeku – the whole town and the whole river

Both are grammatically correct. Repeating the adjective sounds a bit more explicit.

Could we say Fotografija mosta instead of Fotografija s mosta? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the meaning changes:

Fotografija s mosta – a photo taken from the bridge
(the position of the photographer is on the bridge)
Fotografija mosta – a photo of the bridge
(the bridge itself is the subject of the photo)

So:

If you want to say from where the picture was taken → s mosta.
If you want to say what the picture shows (the object) → mosta without the s.

Can we also say sa mosta instead of s mosta?

You may hear both s mosta and sa mosta, but the standard, most natural form here is s mosta.

General rule:

Use s before words that are easy to pronounce with s.
Use sa when s + following consonants would be hard to pronounce or unclear, often before:
- words starting with s, z, š, ž, or some consonant clusters.

Examples:

s brda – from the hill
sa stola – from the table
sa sastanka – from the meeting

s mosta is easy to pronounce, so s is preferred.

What is the difference between pokazuje and prikazuje in this sentence?

Both can work:

pokazuje – shows
prikazuje – depicts, portrays

Nuance:

pokazuje is very general: “to show”.
prikazuje is often used when a photo, film, painting, etc. visually represents something, sometimes a bit more formal or “artistic”.

So:

Fotografija s mosta pokazuje cijeli grad i rijeku.
Fotografija s mosta prikazuje cijeli grad i rijeku.

Both are correct. pokazuje is more neutral and more common in everyday speech.

Are there more informal or shorter words for fotografija?

Yes:

fotografija – neutral, standard word (photograph)
slika – picture, image; very common, can mean photo or drawing
fotka – colloquial/slang for “photo, pic”

Examples:

Slika s mosta pokazuje cijeli grad i rijeku.
Fotka s mosta pokazuje cijeli grad i rijeku.

All are understandable; fotografija is the most neutral and precise.

How do you pronounce rijeku, especially the ije part?

Rijeku is pronounced roughly like R-yeh-koo:

r – rolled or tapped “r”
ije – pronounced like yeh (one syllable)
ku – like koo

Syllables: rije-ku

Stress in standard Croatian is usually on the first syllable here: RÌ-je-ku.