Njegova kamera je mala, ali snima stvarno dobre fotografije.

His camera is small, but it records really good photographs.

Breakdown of Njegova kamera je mala, ali snima stvarno dobre fotografije.

• biti: to be
• dobar: good
• mali: small
• njegov: his
• ali: but
• stvarno: really
• kamera: camera
• snimati: to record
• fotografija: photograph

Questions & Answers about Njegova kamera je mala, ali snima stvarno dobre fotografije.

Why is it njegova kamera and not njegov kamera?

In Croatian, possessive adjectives (like njegov = his) must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe.

• kamera is:
  • feminine,
  • singular,
  • nominative (subject of the sentence).

The feminine singular nominative form of njegov is njegova, so you get:

• njegova kamera = his camera

Njegov kamera would be wrong because njegov is the masculine form, but kamera is feminine.

Why is kamera je mala and not je kamera mala?

The normal word order in Croatian is similar to English: Subject – Verb – Complement.

• kamera (subject)
• je (auxiliary verb "is")
• mala (adjective: "small")

So Kamera je mala = The camera is small.

The form Je kamera mala can appear:

• in questions, with a questioning intonation, or
• in some special stylistic/emphatic uses.

As a regular statement (like in your sentence), Kamera je mala is the natural word order.

What exactly does je do in this sentence?

Je is the 3rd person singular of the verb biti (to be), so it means "is" here.

• Njegova kamera je mala = His camera is small.

Croatian often drops forms of biti in some tenses or constructions, but here you cannot omit it.
You can’t say Njegova kamera mala as a normal sentence; it would sound incomplete or ungrammatical.

Why is it mala and not mali or malo?

Adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• kamera is feminine, singular, nominative.
• The adjective mali (small) has these forms:
  • masculine: mali
  • feminine: mala
  • neuter: malo

So you need the feminine form mala to match kamera:

• mala kamera = a small camera
• Njegova kamera je mala.

Why do we use snima and not a verb that literally means “takes photos”?

The verb snimati (present: snima) literally means “to record” or “to shoot” (like shooting a film, recording video, or making pictures).

In everyday speech, snimati is very commonly used for both:

• recording video
• taking photos

So:

• snima stvarno dobre fotografije = it takes / it shoots really good photos.

Other verbs for "taking photos" exist:

• fotografirati – to photograph
• slikati – to paint / take pictures
• fotkati (colloquial) – to snap photos

You could say:

• Njegova kamera slika/stvara/fotografira stvarno dobre fotografije,
  but snima is very natural and common.

What form is snima, and who is the subject?

Snima is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• imperfective aspect
• from the verb snimati (to record).

The subject is njegova kamera (his camera), so snima here means:

• (It) records / (it) takes / (it) shoots.

The subject pronoun ona (she/it) is not used; in Croatian it’s normally dropped because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

What does stvarno mean, and how is it different from zaista or jako?

Stvarno here is an adverb meaning “really / truly / actually”, used for emphasis:

• stvarno dobre fotografije = really good photos

Similar words:

• zaista – really, indeed
  
  • zaista dobre fotografije (a bit more formal or emphatic)
• jako – very
  
  • jako dobre fotografije = very good photos

So:

• stvarno focuses on “in reality, genuinely”.
• zaista is like “indeed, truly”.
• jako is like “very, strongly”.

All three are common; the nuance is mostly stylistic.

Why do we say stvarno dobre fotografije and not put stvarno at the end?

Adverbs like stvarno normally come before the adjective or the phrase they modify.

• stvarno dobre fotografije = really good photos

You could move stvarno a bit, but these are the most natural:

• snima stvarno dobre fotografije (most common)
• stvarno snima dobre fotografije (emphasizes the whole action: “it really does take good photos”)

Placing stvarno at the very end (snima dobre fotografije stvarno) sounds unusual or awkward in standard Croatian.

Why is it dobre fotografije and not dobri fotografije?

Again, adjective–noun agreement:

• fotografija (a photo) is feminine.
• fotografije here is plural, accusative (direct object).

For a feminine noun in the accusative plural, the adjective takes the form:

• dobre (fem. plural nominative/accusative)

So:

• dobre fotografije = good photos (object)

Dobri fotografije is wrong because dobri is the masculine plural form, but fotografije is feminine plural.

What case is fotografije, and why?

Fotografije in this sentence is:

• feminine plural accusative.

Reasons:

• It is the direct object of the verb snima (What does it record? Photos.)
• Feminine nouns ending in -a have:
  • nominative plural: -e (fotografije)
  • accusative plural: also -e (fotografije)

So the form fotografije looks the same in nominative plural and accusative plural, but in this sentence its function (direct object) tells you it’s accusative.

Why is there a comma before ali, and what does ali mean?

Ali is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”.

Croatian punctuation rules say you generally put a comma before ali when it joins two clauses:

• Njegova kamera je mala, ali snima stvarno dobre fotografije.
  = His camera is small, but it takes really good photos.

So:

• ali = but
• comma before ali is standard in such sentences.