Daljinski je pokraj televizora.

Yes. In everyday Croatian, daljinski is very commonly used as a short form of daljinski upravljač meaning remote control.

Originally, daljinski is an adjective, but in this sentence it is being used like a noun by leaving out upravljač. This is very natural in speech, similar to how English sometimes shortens expressions.

So here:

• daljinski upravljač = remote control
• daljinski = remote control (short, everyday version)

Because the hidden noun upravljač is masculine, daljinski behaves as masculine too.

Because pokraj requires the genitive case.

The basic dictionary form is:

• televizor = TV / television set

But after pokraj you need the genitive singular:

• televizor → televizora

So:

• pokraj televizora = next to the TV

This is one of the important things to learn with Croatian prepositions: many prepositions always require a specific case.

Pokraj means next to, beside, or by.

It describes location near something. In this sentence, it tells you where the remote is.

Very close equivalents are:

• pokraj televizora
• pored televizora
• kraj televizora

All can mean next to the TV, though pored is often the most everyday choice in casual speech.

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti meaning to be:

• je = is

It appears after the first part of the sentence because je is a clitic. Croatian clitics are unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So:

• Daljinski je pokraj televizora.

is natural.

Croatian does not usually put je at the end here. A sentence like Daljinski pokraj televizora je would sound wrong.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not completely free.

You could also say:

• Pokraj televizora je daljinski.

This is still grammatical. The meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis changes a little. This version highlights the location first.

What stays important is:

• je usually stays in second position
• pokraj should stay with the genitive noun that follows it

So learners should think of pokraj televizora as a unit.

Yes, in normal usage pokraj takes the genitive.

Examples:

• pokraj televizora = next to the TV
• pokraj stola = next to the table
• pokraj kuće = next to the house

So when you learn pokraj, it is best to learn it together with the rule:

• pokraj + genitive

Because Croatian does not have articles like English a and the.

So Croatian simply says:

• Daljinski je pokraj televizora.

and context tells you whether English would use the remote, a remote, the TV, and so on.

If Croatian wants to be more specific, it can use demonstratives such as:

• ovaj = this
• taj = that
• onaj = that over there

For example:

• Taj daljinski je pokraj televizora. = That remote is next to the TV.

Yes, in this usage it is treated as masculine singular.

That is because it stands for daljinski upravljač, and upravljač is masculine.

So you will see forms like:

• daljinski = nominative
• daljinskog = genitive
• daljinskom = dative/locative

For example:

• Nema daljinskog. = There is no remote.
• Prišao sam daljinskom. would be grammatically possible, though not a very natural real-life sentence.

Yes. That is a very common alternative.

These are both natural:

• Daljinski je pokraj televizora.
• Daljinski je pored televizora.

Both mean The remote is next to the TV.

For many learners, pored may actually be the form they hear more often in everyday conversation. But pokraj is completely correct and natural too.

Because televizor refers clearly to the TV set as a physical object.

• televizor = television set / TV
• televizija = television as a medium, television broadcasting, and sometimes also a TV set depending on context

In a sentence about physical location, televizor is often the clearest and most straightforward choice:

• pokraj televizora = next to the TV set

You might also hear pokraj televizije, but televizora is especially natural when referring to the actual device in the room.

This is a perfectly natural everyday sentence.

Croatian does not need a more elaborate verb here. A simple je works very well for basic location sentences:

• Daljinski je pokraj televizora.

You could make it more formal or explicit with something like:

• Daljinski se nalazi pokraj televizora.

But that sounds more formal, more written, or more descriptive. In ordinary speech, the short version with je is completely normal.