Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.

to have

Breakdown of Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.

• u: in
• svaki: every
• dijete: child
• svoj: own
• bilježnica: notebook
• razred: class

Questions & Answers about Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.

Why is it svako dijete and not svaki dijete?

In Croatian, svaki/svaka/svako has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

• dijete (child) is grammatically neuter singular.
• The neuter singular form of svaki is svako.
• So you get svako dijete = every child.

Forms:

• svaki čovjek (masculine) – every man
• svaka žena (feminine) – every woman
• svako dijete (neuter) – every child

Using svaki dijete would be ungrammatical, because svaki is masculine, but dijete is neuter.

Why is the verb ima (3rd person singular) and not imaju (3rd person plural)?

The grammatical subject here is svako dijete, which is singular, even though logically it refers to more than one child.

• svako dijete = every child → singular
• Therefore the verb must also be singular: ima (he/she/it has).

Compare:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu. – Every child in the class has their (own) notebook.
• Sva djeca u razredu imaju svoje bilježnice. – All the children in the class have their notebooks.

In the second sentence, djeca (children) is the subject and is treated as plural, so the verb is imaju.

What cases are used in svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu and why?

The sentence uses three different cases:

1. Nominative – subject

   • svako dijete
   • dijete is in nominative singular (it’s the subject), and svako agrees with it in gender, number, and case.

2. Locative – location after the preposition u (in)

   • u razredu
   • razred → razredu (locative singular)
   • With u meaning “in/inside” (static location, not motion), you use locative.

3. Accusative – direct object

   • svoju bilježnicu
   • bilježnica → bilježnicu (accusative singular, feminine)
   • svoju is the reflexive possessive adjective agreeing with bilježnicu in gender (feminine), number (singular), and case (accusative).

So structurally:

• [Nominative] Svako dijete
• [Locative] u razredu
• [Verb] ima
• [Accusative] svoju bilježnicu.

Why is it svoju bilježnicu and not svoj bilježnicu or svoja bilježnica?

Svoj is a reflexive possessive adjective. Like other adjectives, it changes form to agree with the noun it modifies.

The noun here is bilježnica (notebook), which is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative (because it’s the direct object)

The correct form of svoj for feminine singular accusative is svoju.

Patterns with svoj:

• Nominative: moja teta ima svoju bilježnicu (she has her notebook) – svoja (fem. nom.) only if the noun is subject
• Accusative feminine singular: vidim svoju bilježnicu – I see my (own) notebook

So:

• svoj bilježnicu – wrong (gender and case mismatch)
• svoja bilježnica – nominative; would be used if bilježnica were the subject
• svoju bilježnicu – correct (feminine, singular, accusative)

What is the difference between svoju bilježnicu and njegovu / njezinu / njihovu bilježnicu?

All of these are possessive adjectives, but svoj is reflexive and behaves differently:

• svoju bilježnicu = his/her/their own notebook, referring back to the subject of the sentence.
• njegovu bilježnicu = his notebook (someone else’s, not necessarily the subject’s)
• njezinu bilježnicu = her notebook (someone else’s)
• njihovu bilježnicu = their notebook (could be a different group)

With a 3rd-person subject, Croatian strongly prefers svoj when the possessor is the subject itself:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.
  → Each child has its own notebook.

If you said:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima njegovu bilježnicu.
  → This sounds like: “Every child in the class has his notebook” (all using the notebook of some specific male person).

So svoju removes ambiguity and clearly means “the child’s own notebook.”

Why is it bilježnicu and not bilježnica in this sentence?

Bilježnica is a feminine noun. Its basic dictionary form is nominative singular: bilježnica.

In the sentence, bilježnicu is the direct object (something that is had), so it must be in the accusative case:

• Nominative: bilježnica – The notebook is on the table. (Bilježnica je na stolu.)
• Accusative: bilježnicu – I have a notebook. (Imam bilježnicu.)

Here:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.
  → bilježnicu = accusative singular, feminine.

Why is it u razredu and not u razred?

The preposition u can take either locative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

• u + locative – location (where something is)

  • u razredu – in the classroom
  • u gradu – in the city

• u + accusative – motion into (where something is going)

  • ići u razred – to go into the classroom
  • ići u grad – to go to the city

In Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu, we’re describing a location (“in the class / in the classroom”), not motion, so razred goes into locative singular: razredu.

Can I change the word order, like U razredu svako dijete ima svoju bilježnicu? Does the meaning change?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and your version is correct:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.
• U razredu svako dijete ima svoju bilježnicu.

Both mean essentially the same thing: Every child in the class has their (own) notebook.

Nuances:

• Starting with Svako dijete lightly emphasizes “every child”.
• Starting with U razredu lightly emphasizes the setting “in the class / in the classroom”.

But the basic meaning is unchanged, and both sentences are natural.

Why use svako dijete and not something with djeca (children), like svaka djeca?

The noun djeca (children) is irregular:

• It is a plural noun (there is no singular djece meaning “a child”).
• You cannot say svaka djeca – that is ungrammatical.

To say “every child”, Croatian uses the singular dijete with svako:

• svako dijete – every child

If you want to talk about all children as a group, you use djeca:

• sva djeca – all (the) children

Compare:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu. – Every child in the class has their notebook.
• Sva djeca u razredu imaju svoje bilježnice. – All the children in the class have their notebooks.

Is there any difference between svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu and saying “every child has their own notebook” in English style? Does svoju always mean “own”?

Svoju often corresponds to English “own”, but its core function is grammatical: it marks that the possessor is the subject (reflexive).

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju bilježnicu.
  → Literally: “Every child in the class has its notebook”, but normally understood as “its own notebook.”

If you want to make the “own” idea extra explicit, you can say:

• Svako dijete u razredu ima svoju vlastitu bilježnicu.
  → Every child in the class has their own notebook (clearly not shared).

So:

• svoju by itself usually implies ownership linked to the subject.
• svoju vlastitu makes the idea of “own (not shared)” stronger.