Njezin pas spava ispod stola.

Her dog sleeps under the table.

Breakdown of Njezin pas spava ispod stola.

• pas: dog
• stol: table
• spavati: to sleep
• ispod: under
• njezin: her

Questions & Answers about Njezin pas spava ispod stola.

What does njezin mean, and how is it different from ona?

Njezin means her in the sense of her dog, her house, her book – it’s a possessive adjective.

• ona = she (subject pronoun)
• njezin = her (possessive, used before a noun)

So in Njezin pas spava ispod stola, njezin tells us the dog belongs to her (some woman previously mentioned).

Why is it njezin pas and not njezina pas or njezini pas?

In Croatian, possessive adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• pas = dog
  
  • gender: masculine
  • number: singular
  • case here: nominative (subject of the sentence)

So we choose the masculine singular nominative form of the possessive:

• masculine singular nominative: njezin pas
• feminine singular nominative: njezina mačka (her cat)
• masculine plural nominative: njezini psi (her dogs)

Because pas is masculine singular in the nominative, we use njezin.

Is there a difference between njezin and njen?

They mean the same thing: her.

• njezin – more standard / formal
• njen – very common in everyday speech, fully accepted

In this sentence you could also say:

• Njen pas spava ispod stola.

It would be understood in exactly the same way.

Which word is the subject and which is the verb in this sentence?

Breakdown:

• Njezin pas – the subject (her dog)
  • pas is the main noun (dog)
  • njezin describes whose dog it is
• spava – the main verb (is sleeping / sleeps)
• ispod stola – a prepositional phrase; it tells us where he is sleeping (under the table)

So in English structure: Her dog (subject) sleeps (verb) under the table (place).

Why is there no word for the in Croatian, like the dog or the table?

Croatian has no articles (no a, an, or the). The noun pas can mean:

• a dog
• the dog
• sometimes just dog in a general sense

Which one is meant is understood from context, not from a separate word.

In Njezin pas spava ispod stola, context gives the English translation Her dog is sleeping under the table, not A dog of hers is sleeping… unless you explicitly want that nuance.

Why is it stola and not stol after ispod?

Stol is the basic (nominative) form: stol = table.
After the preposition ispod (under, below), Croatian requires the genitive case.

• nominative: stol (table – subject form)
• genitive singular: stola (of the table)

Since ispod always governs the genitive, you must say:

• ispod stola = under the table
• ispod mosta = under the bridge
• ispod kreveta = under the bed

So ispod + stol → ispod stola.

What case is pas in, and why doesn’t it change its form?

Pas is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

Masculine singular nouns in the nominative often appear in their dictionary form, with no extra ending. So:

• nominative singular: pas (dog) – subject form
• genitive singular: psa (of the dog)
• accusative singular: psa (I see the dog)

In Njezin pas spava ispod stola, we’re saying who is sleeping, so we use the nominative: pas.

What exactly does ispod mean, and how is it different from pod?

Both relate to location, but they behave differently:

• ispod = under, below, beneath

  • Always used with the genitive: ispod stola, ispod mosta
  • Emphasizes position below something

• pod = also under, but used with other cases (most often instrumental or accusative) and has slightly different usage:

  • Pod stolom (instrumental) – under the table (static location)
  • Pod stol (accusative) – under the table (movement to a position under it)

In your sentence the simple, neutral way to say under the table in this context is ispod stola.

Can I change the word order, or must it be Njezin pas spava ispod stola?

Croatian word order is more flexible than English. All of these are grammatically possible:

• Njezin pas spava ispod stola. (neutral)
• Njezin pas ispod stola spava. (slight emphasis on where he is sleeping)
• Ispod stola spava njezin pas. (emphasis on the place under the table; good if you’re contrasting with some other place or animal)

The basic neutral order for a simple sentence is subject–verb–rest, which is the version you have.

Why doesn’t Croatian need a form of to be (like is) before spava?

In English you say is sleeping (auxiliary is + participle sleeping).
In Croatian, the normal present tense uses a single verb form:

• spava = sleeps / is sleeping

So Njezin pas spava covers both English possibilities:

• Her dog sleeps.
• Her dog is sleeping.

You only add je (is) in special constructions (e.g. Pas je velik – The dog is big), not in the basic present tense of action verbs like spavati (to sleep).

How would the sentence change for plural or for a different person (my dog, his dog, etc.)?

Some useful variations:

• Her dogs are sleeping under the table.
  Njezini psi spavaju ispod stola.

  • njezini (masc. pl. nom.) + psi (dogs)
  • spavaju (3rd person plural present)

• His dog is sleeping under the table.
  Njegov pas spava ispod stola.

• My dog is sleeping under the table.
  Moj pas spava ispod stola.

• Our dog is sleeping under the table.
  Naš pas spava ispod stola.

You always match the possessive (moj, tvoj, njegov, njezin, naš, vaš, njihov) to the gender, number, and case of the noun (pas, psi, mačka, etc.).

How would I say the negative: Her dog is not sleeping under the table?

To negate the verb, you add ne in front of it:

• Njezin pas ne spava ispod stola.
  = Her dog is not sleeping under the table / Her dog does not sleep under the table.

The rest of the sentence stays the same; only the verb is negated.