Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.

I (female) made a new profile and put one photo from work.

Breakdown of Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.

• biti: to be
• nov: new
• i: and
• posao: work
• napraviti: to make
• s: from
• staviti: to put
• jedan: one
• profil: profile
• fotografija: photo

Questions & Answers about Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.

Why is it napravila sam and stavila instead of napravio sam / stavio? Where does the feminine ending come from?

In Croatian, the past tense is formed with:

auxiliary (present of biti “to be”) + past participle that agrees in gender and number with the subject.

• napravila sam = I (female speaker) made
• napravio sam = I (male speaker) made

The ending -la marks feminine singular, and -o marks masculine singular.

So if the speaker is a woman, she says:

• Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.

If the speaker is a man, he must say:

• Napravio sam novi profil i stavio jednu fotografiju s posla.

Can a man use the original sentence, or does he have to change it?

A man has to change the participles to the masculine form, otherwise it sounds wrong or at least very odd.

Correct for a male speaker:

• Napravio sam novi profil i stavio jednu fotografiju s posla.

Changes:

• napravila → napravio
• stavila → stavio

The auxiliary sam stays the same; only the participles change with gender.

Why is sam only used once? Why not Napravila sam novi profil i stavila sam jednu fotografiju s posla?

In Croatian, when you have two (or more) past-tense verbs joined by i (and), you normally:

• use the auxiliary sam/si/je… once
• and then just add another past participle.

So:

• Natural: Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.
• Also possible, but heavier and less common in speech:
  Napravila sam novi profil i stavila sam jednu fotografiju s posla.

The version with sam only once is stylistically better and very typical Croatian.

Why is it novi profil but jednu fotografiju? Why are the endings different?

Because the words have different genders and are in different case forms:

1. profil

   • Gender: masculine
   • Case: accusative singular (object of napravila sam)
   • Masculine inanimate often has the same form in nominative and accusative:
     
     • novi profil (nom.) → novi profil (acc.)

2. fotografija

   • Gender: feminine
   • Case: accusative singular (object of stavila)
   • Feminine accusative singular usually ends in -u:
     
     • jedna fotografija (nom.) → jednu fotografiju (acc.)

So:

• novi agrees with masculine profil in accusative.
• jednu agrees with feminine fotografiju in accusative.

Why is it jednu fotografiju and not jedna fotografija? And could we also leave out jednu?

1. jedna → jednu

   • jedna fotografija is nominative (subject form).
   • Here it’s an object, so we need accusative: jednu fotografiju.

2. Can we omit jednu?
   Yes, you can say:

   • stavila jednu fotografiju – “I uploaded one photo” (emphasizing that it was one, not several).
   • stavila fotografiju – “I uploaded a photo” (neutral, like the English indefinite a photo).

Both are correct; jednu just adds focus on the number one.

What exactly does s posla mean? How is it different from na poslu and s poslom?

• s posla = from work (movement away from the workplace)

  • Stavila sam jednu fotografiju s posla.
    → “I put up one photo from work” (the photo was taken at work).

• na poslu = at work (location)

  • Radim na poslu. → “I am at work / I work at my job.”

• s poslom = with work (instrumental, “together with work” / “regarding work”)

  • Zadovoljna sam s poslom. → “I’m satisfied with the job/work.”

In this sentence, we want “a photo from work (place),” so s posla is correct.

Why is the preposition s used with posla (genitive) here? Why not iz posla or od posla?

The preposition s (or sa) can take different cases and meanings, but:

• s + genitive often means “from (a place)”:
  • s posla → “from work”
  • s fakulteta → “from university”

iz posla is not idiomatic here; iz + genitive usually means “out of the inside of something” (e.g. iz kuće – from the house).

od posla would mean “because of work / from (too much) work”:

• Umorna sam od posla. → “I’m tired from work.”

So for “from work (place)” in this context, Croatian uses the set phrase s posla.

Can we also say sa posla instead of s posla?

Yes, both are grammatically correct:

• s posla
• sa posla

The difference is mostly phonetic and stylistic:

• s is the basic form.
• sa is often used:
  • before words starting with certain consonant clusters (to make pronunciation easier)
  • or just as a variant in everyday speech.

With posla, both are easy to pronounce, and s posla is a bit more common, especially in writing. In speech, sa posla is also very normal.

Is napraviti profil the usual expression, or could I also say otvoriti profil or kreirati profil?

All are possible, but there are nuances:

• napraviti profil – very common and neutral; literally “to make a profile.”
• otvoriti profil – also very common with online accounts; literally “to open a profile / account”; sounds a bit more “official” (like opening an account).
• kreirati profil – sounds a bit more technical or influenced by English “create a profile”; used, but less casual.

In everyday conversation, napraviti profil and otvoriti profil are the most natural choices.

Why is stavila used instead of postavila or objavila for putting a photo online?

All three verbs can be used about photos online, with slight differences:

• staviti (fotografiju) – very general “put, place”; also used for “put up a photo” on social networks; informal, common.
• postaviti (fotografiju) – closer to “upload / set (a photo)”:
  • postaviti profilnu sliku – “set a profile picture.”
• objaviti (fotografiju) – literally “publish a photo”; common for posts, news, blogs, etc.

In this sentence:

• stavila jednu fotografiju sounds casual, like “I put up a photo.”
• postavila jednu fotografiju would sound slightly more like “I uploaded/set a photo.” Both are fine in everyday speech.

Why are napravila and stavila perfective verbs here? What would the imperfective forms be?

Croatian has aspect: perfective vs. imperfective.

• napraviti (perfective) – focuses on the completed result: “to make (and finish making).”

• imperfective pair: praviti or raditi (depending on context)

  • pravila sam profil – I was making a profile (process, not necessarily finished).
• staviti (perfective) – “to put (once, and the action is done).”
• imperfective: stavljati
  • stavljala sam fotografiju – I was putting the photo (repeatedly / as a process).

In a narrative about what you did (you completed these actions), perfective is normal:

• Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.
  → both actions are finished, one-time events.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts around, like Novi profil sam napravila or Napravila sam novi profil i jednu fotografiju s posla stavila?

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but changes affect emphasis.

All of these are grammatically possible:

1. Napravila sam novi profil i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.
   – neutral, the most natural order.

2. Novi profil sam napravila i stavila jednu fotografiju s posla.
   – emphasis on novi profil (“It was a new profile that I made…”).

3. Napravila sam novi profil i jednu fotografiju s posla stavila.
   – emphasis shifted toward jednu fotografiju s posla (you’re highlighting what you put).

In everyday speech, version 1 is by far the most common and safest.