Stadion nije udaljen od parka.

The stadium is not far from the park.

Breakdown of Stadion nije udaljen od parka.

• biti: to be
• ne: not
• park: park
• od: from
• stadion: stadium
• udaljen: far away

Questions & Answers about Stadion nije udaljen od parka.

What does udaljen mean, and what kind of word is it?

Udaljen is an adjective (originally a past participle) that literally means “distant” or “removed”.

In this sentence, Stadion nije udaljen od parka, it works like an English predicate adjective:

• stadion je udaljen = “the stadium is distant” / “the stadium is far (away)”

So the whole sentence is essentially:

• The stadium is not distant from the park → “The stadium is not far from the park.”

Why is it od parka and not od park?

The preposition od (“from, of”) in Croatian always requires the genitive case.

• The noun park is masculine singular.
• Its genitive singular form is parka.

So:

• nominative: park (used for the subject)
• genitive: parka (used after od)

That’s why you must say od parka, not od park.

What cases are stadion and parka in?

• stadion is in the nominative singular, because it’s the subject of the sentence.
• parka is in the genitive singular, because it follows the preposition od, which requires genitive.

So the structure is:

• [Nominative] Stadion
• [Verb] nije
• [Predicate adjective] udaljen
• [Preposition + Genitive] od parka

How does udaljen agree with stadion? What would it look like with other genders?

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

Here:

• stadion = masculine singular
• so the predicate adjective is udaljen = masculine singular form

If the subject changed, udaljen would change too:

• Feminine:
  
  • Škola nije udaljena od parka.
    
    • The school is not far from the park.
• Neuter:
  
  • Selo nije udaljeno od parka.
    
    • The village is not far from the park.
• Plural (masculine animate/inanimate):
  
  • Stadioni nisu udaljeni od parka.
    
    • The stadiums are not far from the park.

Why is the negation written as nije and not ne je?

The verb biti (“to be”) has special fused negative forms in the present tense. You never say ne je, ne sam, etc. Instead:

• jesam → nisam (I am → I am not)
• jesi → nisi (you are → you are not)
• jest / je → nije (he/she/it is → is not)
• jesmo → nismo (we are → we are not)
• jeste → niste (you (pl.) are → are not)
• jesu → nisu (they are → are not)

So in this sentence, je (is) + ne (not) is always fused into nije. Ne je is incorrect.

Is Stadion nije udaljen od parka different in meaning from Stadion nije daleko od parka?

Both are correct and both mean “The stadium is not far from the park.” The difference is subtle:

• nije udaljen od parka
  
  • uses the adjective udaljen (“distant”), sounds a bit more neutral/formal/literary.
• nije daleko od parka
  
  • uses the adverb daleko (“far”), this is more common in everyday speech.

In most everyday contexts, people will more often say nije daleko od parka, but your original sentence is perfectly natural.

Could I say Stadion nije dalek od parka instead?

You can say Stadion nije dalek od parka, and it’s grammatically correct, but it’s much less common in modern everyday speech.

More typical are:

• Stadion nije daleko od parka. (most common)
• Stadion nije udaljen od parka. (also common, slightly more formal)

The adjective dalek (“far, distant”) tends to sound a bit bookish or old-fashioned in this kind of structure, especially in the negative.

Can the word order be changed, for example: Nije stadion udaljen od parka or Stadion od parka nije udaljen?

Yes, Croatian allows relatively flexible word order, but the emphasis changes.

1. Stadion nije udaljen od parka.

   • Neutral, most natural order. Focus is on the statement as a whole.

2. Nije stadion udaljen od parka.

   • Slight emphasis on nije; used when correcting or contrasting:
   • “It’s not the stadium that is far from the park (maybe something else is).”

3. Stadion od parka nije udaljen.

   • Emphasis falls more on udaljen at the end; slightly more poetic or contrastive.

All are grammatical, but the first one is the standard, neutral option.

Is udaljen always used with od + genitive, or can it stand alone?

Udaljen is usually used with a complement that tells you from what something is distant, and that complement is most often od + genitive:

• udaljen od centra – far from the center
• udaljen od obale – far from the coast
• udaljen od kuće – far from home

It can sometimes stand alone if the context is clear:

• Stadion je prilično udaljen.
  
  • The stadium is quite far (away).

But normally, to be precise, you’ll say udaljen od + [genitive].

Can I replace od with another preposition like iz, do, or kod here?

No, not without changing the meaning. Each preposition has its own typical use:

• od + genitive → “from” / “away from”

  • udaljen od parka = distant from the park

• do + genitive → “to / up to / as far as”

  • do parka = to the park

• iz + genitive → “from (the inside of)”

  • iz parka = from the park (out of the park)

• kod + genitive → “at / near (someone’s place or vicinity)”

  • kod parka = near the park / by the park

To express distance in this structure (“far from”), udaljen od + genitive is the correct and natural choice.

How would I say “The stadium is far from the park” (without negation) using udaljen?

You simply remove the negation:

• Stadion je udaljen od parka.
  
  • The stadium is far from the park.

You could also say, more commonly in everyday speech:

• Stadion je daleko od parka.