Breakdown of Svaka knjiga u knjižnici je dobra.
Questions & Answers about Svaka knjiga u knjižnici je dobra.
Svaka means “every / each” and is used with a singular noun.
- Svaka knjiga = every book / each book
- It is grammatically singular, even though in meaning it refers to all books one by one.
Sve can mean “all” and is used with a plural noun:
- Sve knjige u knjižnici su dobre. = All the books in the library are good.
So:
- Svaka knjiga … je dobra. = Every book … is good. (singular)
- Sve knjige … su dobre. = All (the) books … are good. (plural)
Because svaka has to agree in gender with the noun knjiga.
The word svaki/svaka/svako (“every/each”) changes according to the gender of the noun it modifies:
- svaki – masculine (e.g. svaki čovjek – every man)
- svaka – feminine (e.g. svaka knjiga – every book)
- svako – neuter (e.g. svako dijete – every child)
Knjiga (book) is a feminine noun, so you must use the feminine form svaka:
- ✅ svaka knjiga
- ❌ svaki knjiga (wrong gender agreement)
Because svaka knjiga is the subject of the sentence, so it must be in the nominative case.
- Svaka knjiga u knjižnici je dobra.
- svaka knjiga = nominative (who/what is good? → every book)
Svaku knjigu is accusative, which is used mainly for direct objects (what you read, buy, see, etc.):
- Čitam svaku knjigu. = I read every book.
- svaku knjigu is the object → what do I read?
In your sentence we are describing what the subject is like, so we keep nominative: svaka knjiga.
The verb must agree with the grammar, not with the “feeling of plurality”.
The subject is svaka knjiga:
- svaka = every/each (singular determiner)
- knjiga = book (singular noun)
Together they form a singular subject, so you use the 3rd person singular of biti (to be):
- je – he/she/it is
So:
- Svaka knjiga u knjižnici je dobra.
Every book in the library is good.
If you changed the subject to the plural, the verb would also be plural:
- Sve knjige u knjižnici su dobre.
All (the) books in the library are good.
Knjižnici is the locative singular form of knjižnica (library).
In Croatian, many prepositions require a specific case. The preposition u (in) uses:
- locative when it means location (where?)
- accusative when it means direction (to where?)
So:
- u knjižnici = in the library → locative (static location)
- (gdje?) u knjižnici – where? in the library
- u knjižnicu = into the library → accusative (movement)
- (kamo?) u knjižnicu – to where? into the library
Here the meaning is location (in the library), so you use locative singular: knjižnici.
No. After the preposition u with a static location meaning (in), you must put the noun in the locative case, not in the basic dictionary form.
- Dictionary form (nominative): knjižnica (library)
- Locative singular: knjižnici
So:
- ✅ u knjižnici – in the library
- ❌ u knjižnica – ungrammatical
Both can mean “library”, but there are some stylistic and regional differences:
knjižnica
- Standard and strongly preferred in Croatia (and often taught as the main word).
- Common in official and educational contexts in Croatian.
biblioteka
- More common in Serbian and Bosnian.
- In Croatian, it can be used, but it may sound more bookish or less standard compared to knjižnica, or can mean a book series (e.g. “a collection” of books).
In this Croatian sentence, knjižnica is the “most standard” choice.
Because dobra is the feminine singular form of the adjective dobar (good), and it must agree with the feminine noun knjiga.
The adjective dobar changes like this in the nominative singular:
- dobar – masculine (e.g. dobar čovjek – a good man)
- dobra – feminine (e.g. dobra knjiga – a good book)
- dobro – neuter (e.g. dobro vino – good wine)
In Svaka knjiga … je dobra:
- knjiga is feminine singular,
- so the adjective must also be feminine singular → dobra.
Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and these variants are grammatically correct. The differences are mostly in emphasis:
Svaka knjiga u knjižnici je dobra.
Neutral; mild emphasis on svaka knjiga (every book).U knjižnici je svaka knjiga dobra.
Slightly more emphasis on u knjižnici (in the library), as if contrasting with some other place:- “In the library, every book is good (maybe not elsewhere).”
Svaka knjiga u knjižnici dobra je.
Perfectly grammatical, but a bit more literary/marked. The split position of je can add a stylistic or rhythmic effect, or emphasize dobra.
In everyday speech, your original version is the most straightforward.
Yes, that’s another correct sentence:
- Sve knjige u knjižnici su dobre.
All (the) books in the library are good.
Difference:
- Svaka knjiga je dobra. – focuses on each individual book, one by one. Grammatically singular.
- Sve knjige su dobre. – focuses on the group as a whole (all the books together). Grammatically plural.
In everyday conversation, they often feel almost the same, but the nuance is:
- svaka knjiga = distributive, each individually
- sve knjige = collective, all as a set
Croatian has no articles like English a/an/the. The phrase u knjižnici on its own can mean:
- in the library
- in a library
The exact meaning depends on context:
- If the library is already known from the conversation, it’s naturally understood as “the library”.
- If you’re mentioning it for the first time, it can feel like “a library”.
English is forced to choose a or the; Croatian leaves it implicit and lets context decide.
Pronunciation tips:
knjiga [KNYEE-gah]:
- k – as in skate.
- nj – like ny in canyon.
- So knj is roughly k-ny together: k-nyi.
- Stress: usually KNJI-ga (stress on the first syllable).
knjižnici [KNYEE-zh-nee-tsee]:
- ž – like s in measure or j in Jacques.
- c – like ts in cats.
- Syllables: knji-ž-ni-ci → KNJI-ž-ni-ci (stress usually on the first syllable).
Croatian spelling is quite phonetic, so once you learn the values of nj, ž, c, etc., the pronunciation becomes very predictable.