On polako miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.

He slowly stirs the soup in the big bowl.

Breakdown of On polako miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.

• on: he
• velik: big
• u: in
• polako: slowly
• juha: soup
• zdjela: bowl
• miješati: to mix

Questions & Answers about On polako miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.

Why do we have On at the beginning? Can it be left out?

In Croatian, the subject pronoun (on = he) is often optional, because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action.

• On polako miješa juhu… – completely correct.
• Polako miješa juhu… – also correct and quite natural in context.

You normally include on when:

• you want to emphasize he (as opposed to someone else)
• the subject might otherwise be unclear.

In neutral, ongoing narration, you would very often hear the version without on.

Why is polako placed after on and before miješa? Can its position change?

Polako is an adverb (slowly). The most neutral place for adverbs of manner in Croatian is right before the verb:

• On polako miješa juhu… – neutral.

Other positions are possible, but they change emphasis:

• On miješa juhu polako u velikoj zdjeli.
  – puts some emphasis on polako, but still understandable.
• Polako on miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.
  – emphasizes polako a lot (e.g. “It’s slowly that he stirs the soup…”).
• On juhu polako miješa u velikoj zdjeli.
  – emphasizes juhu or polako, sounds a bit stylistic/poetic.

So: the sentence is flexible, but On polako miješa… is the most natural, neutral order.

Why is it miješa and not something like miješati or miješao?

• miješati is the infinitive – “to stir”.
• miješa is 3rd person singular, present tense – “he stirs / he is stirring”.
• miješao is past tense, masculine – “he stirred”.

In your sentence, we’re talking about an action happening now / habitually, so you need:

• on miješa = he stirs / he is stirring.

If you wanted the past:

• On je polako miješao juhu u velikoj zdjeli. – He slowly stirred the soup in the big bowl.

Why is it juhu and not juha?

The base form is juha (soup), a feminine noun.

In the sentence, juha is the direct object of the verb miješati (“to stir”), so it goes into the accusative case:

• Nominative (dictionary form): juha
  (Juha je vruća. – The soup is hot.)
• Accusative (object): juhu
  (Miješam juhu. – I’m stirring the soup.)

Most feminine nouns ending in -a change -a → -u in the singular accusative:

• kava → kavu
• slika → sliku
• juha → juhu

What case is u velikoj zdjeli, and why?

U can take either accusative or locative, depending on meaning:

• Accusative with movement into:
  Idem u kuću. – I’m going into the house.
• Locative with location in:
  Sjedi u kući. – He’s in the house.

In your sentence, nothing is moving into the bowl; it just describes where he is stirring the soup: in the big bowl. So u uses the locative case:

• u (prep) + velikoj (adj, fem, sing, loc) + zdjeli (noun, fem, sing, loc)

Why velikoj and not velika or veliku?

The adjective velik (big) must agree with the noun zdjela (bowl) in gender, number, and case.

• zdjela is feminine, singular.
• In u zdjeli (“in the bowl”), zdjela is in the locative singular → zdjeli.
• So the adjective also has to be feminine singular locative → velikoj.

Comparison:

• Nominative: velika zdjela – a big bowl
• Accusative: vidim veliku zdjelu – I see a big bowl
• Locative: u velikoj zdjeli – in a big bowl

So velikoj is the correct locative form matching zdjeli.

What form is zdjeli, and why is it not zdjela or zdjelu?

The base form is zdjela (bowl), feminine.

Depending on case:

• Nominative: zdjela
  Zdela je na stolu. – The bowl is on the table.
• Accusative: zdjelu
  Stavim juhu u zdjelu. – I put the soup into the bowl.
• Locative: zdjeli
  Juhu miješam u zdjeli. – I stir the soup in the bowl.

In your sentence, u means “in” (location, no movement into), so the noun goes to locative → zdjeli.

What’s the difference between u velikoj zdjeli and u veliku zdjelu?

This is the classic locative vs accusative with “u”:

• u + locative → static location (in, inside):
  • u velikoj zdjeli – in the big bowl (already there, no motion into)
• u + accusative → movement into something (into):
  • u veliku zdjelu – into the big bowl (motion towards/into)

So:

• On polako miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.
  He is already in the situation of the soup being in the bowl.
• On ulijeva juhu u veliku zdjelu.
  He is pouring the soup into the big bowl (movement into).

Could the word order be On miješa polako juhu u velikoj zdjeli? Is that still correct?

Grammatically, yes – but the neutral word order is different.

• On polako miješa juhu u velikoj zdjeli.
  → most neutral, natural: subject – adverb – verb – object – place.
• On miješa polako juhu u velikoj zdjeli.
  → not wrong, but sounds slightly marked; extra emphasis on polako.

Croatian word order is flexible, but native speakers have strong preferences. For everyday speech, putting adverbs like polako before the verb is usually your safest, most natural choice.

Is there a difference between miješati and promiješati / izmiješati in this context?

Yes, it’s a matter of aspect (ongoing vs completed action):

• miješati – imperfective: focuses on the process of stirring, duration, or repeated action.
  
  • On polako miješa juhu… – He is slowly stirring the soup.
• promiješati / izmiješati – perfective: focuses on the result or completed action.
  
  • On je polako promiješao juhu. – He slowly stirred the soup (and finished).
  • On je dobro izmiješao juhu. – He mixed the soup well (result reached).

Your sentence with miješa describes the ongoing action, not whether it’s finished.