Questions & Answers about Auto stoji usred ulice.
Stoji is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb stajati (to stand).
Croatian does not have a separate continuous/progressive tense like English. So:
- Auto stoji usred ulice.
can be translated both as- The car stands in the middle of the street.
- The car is standing in the middle of the street.
Both English versions correspond to the same Croatian form stoji. Context decides which English translation sounds more natural, but in Croatian it’s just the simple present.
Croatian has no articles like a, an, or the.
- Auto can mean a car or the car.
- Usred ulice can mean in the middle of a street or in the middle of the street.
Which English article you use depends on context, not on any special word in Croatian.
So:
- Auto stoji usred ulice.
can be:- A car is standing in the middle of the street.
or - The car is standing in the middle of the street.
- A car is standing in the middle of the street.
Ulice is the genitive singular form of ulica (street).
The noun ulica (feminine) declines like this (singular only):
- Nominative (subject): ulica – the street
- Genitive: ulice – of the street
- Dative: ulici
- Accusative: ulicu
- Vocative: ulice
- Locative: ulici
- Instrumental: ulicom
The preposition usred (in the middle of) always takes the genitive case. So you must say:
- usred ulice – in the middle of the street
literally: in-the-middle of the street.
Saying usred ulica or usred ulica (nominative) would be incorrect here.
Usred is one word, not two. Historically it comes from u + sred (in + middle), but in modern usage it’s written together:
- usred ulice – in the middle of the street
Meaning-wise, usred means:
- in the middle of, in the midst of, sometimes right in the middle of
It normally takes the genitive case:
- usred ulice – in the middle of the street
- usred šume – in the middle of the forest
- usred noći – in the middle of the night
Writing u sred ulice is colloquial/incorrect in standard language; standard is usred ulice.
Yes, there are several alternatives, all correct but with slightly different style or nuance:
- u sredini ulice – literally in the middle (center) of the street
- na sredini ulice – literally at/on the middle of the street
- nasred ulice – right in the middle of the street (very common, slightly more colloquial/neutral)
Compare:
- Auto stoji usred ulice.
- Auto stoji u sredini ulice.
- Auto stoji na sredini ulice.
- Auto stoji nasred ulice.
All basically mean the same: the car is in the middle of the street.
Usred and nasred can sound a bit more vivid: they often suggest the car is inconveniently or surprisingly in the middle of the street, blocking it, etc.
You can, and it’s grammatically correct, but the nuance changes slightly.
Auto je usred ulice.
= The car is in the middle of the street.
This simply states the car’s location.Auto stoji usred ulice.
= The car is standing / stands in the middle of the street.
This emphasizes that the car is stationary, stopped, not moving. It can imply that it’s parked or stuck there, perhaps where it shouldn’t be.
So you use stoji when you want to highlight that something is standing / remaining somewhere, not just being there in a neutral way.
Croatian does not form the present progressive the way English does. There is no everyday equivalent of is standing, is going, is doing as a separate tense.
- Croatian uses the simple present (stoji, ide, radi) for both:
- He stands / He is standing → On stoji.
Forms like stojeći are participles and are not used the way English uses -ing:
- stojeći = standing (as an adjective/participle)
e.g. stojeći stol would be something like standing table (not natural here).
So Auto je stojeći usred ulice is not how you say The car is standing in the middle of the street.
You just say: Auto stoji usred ulice.
Despite ending in -o, auto is masculine in Croatian.
- It’s a shortened form of automobil (which is clearly masculine).
- Many borrowed or shortened words behave this way.
So you say:
- Ovaj auto – this car (masculine: ovaj)
- Taj auto je nov. – That car is new. (masculine agreement with nov)
In this sentence, auto is nominative singular masculine, used as the subject:
- Auto (who/what?) stoji usred ulice.
Yes, you can say:
- Usred ulice stoji auto.
Both:
- Auto stoji usred ulice.
- Usred ulice stoji auto.
are grammatically correct and mean the same basic thing.
The difference is emphasis:
Auto stoji usred ulice.
Slightly more neutral; you first introduce the car, then say where it is.Usred ulice stoji auto.
Puts more emphasis on the location first – In the middle of the street there’s a car standing.
This can sound a bit more vivid or surprising, as if the important information is that something is in the middle of the street, and that something turns out to be a car.
Flexible word order is very common in Croatian and is often used for emphasis and rhythm, not to change the core meaning.
Croatian distinguishes between two related verbs:
stajati (imperfective) – to stand, to be standing
- Present: stojim, stojiš, stoji…
- Focus on the ongoing state of standing.
stati (perfective) – to stop, to come to a stop
- Past: stao je, stala je – he/she stopped
- Focus on the moment of stopping / beginning to stand.
In your sentence:
- Auto stoji usred ulice.
uses stajati, because we are describing a state: the car is currently standing there.
If you wanted to describe the car coming to a stop in the middle of the street, you’d use stati:
- Auto je stao usred ulice.
= The car stopped in the middle of the street.
Yes, stajati has two main meanings:
to stand – physically be in an upright, stationary position
- Auto stoji usred ulice. – The car is standing in the middle of the street.
to cost – in the context of prices
- Koliko stoji auto? – How much does the car cost?
In your sentence, stoji is clearly to stand because:
- The subject is Auto and the rest of the sentence is a location: usred ulice.
- That pattern (subject + stoji
- place) is the physical location meaning, not the price meaning.
Context in Croatian usually makes it clear which meaning is intended.