Moj auto je parkiran kraj škole.

That is a very common question.

In Croatian, auto is normally treated as masculine, because speakers feel it as a shortened form of automobil, which is masculine.

So:

• moj auto = correct
• moje auto = not the normal standard form here

This also affects other words that agree with auto, such as parkiran:

• Moj auto je parkiran.

So even though the word ends in -o, its grammatical gender is still masculine.

It is functioning like a past passive participle / adjective-like form from parkirati.

So:

• je parkiran = is parked

This is not the action is parking. It describes a state/result:

• the car is in a parked অবস্থание/state

Compare:

• Auto je parkiran. = The car is parked.
• Auto parkira. = The car is parking.
  This is a present-tense action and is much less natural in this context.

Also, parkiran agrees with auto in gender and number. Since auto is masculine singular, the form is parkiran.

Here škole is in the genitive singular.

The reason is that the preposition kraj takes the genitive:

• kraj škole = by / next to / near the school

The dictionary form is:

• škola = school

But after kraj, it changes:

• škola → škole

So:

• kraj škole = correct
• kraj škola = not correct here

Yes, it is the same word historically, but here it is being used as a preposition.

In this sentence, kraj means:

• by
• beside
• next to
• sometimes near

So:

• Moj auto je parkiran kraj škole. = My car is parked by/next to the school.

As a noun, kraj can also mean end:

• na kraju = at the end

So the meaning depends on how it is used in the sentence.

This is because je is a clitic in Croatian.

Clitics usually go in second position in the sentence — but that means after the first whole phrase, not necessarily after the first single word.

So in:

• Moj auto je parkiran kraj škole.

the first unit is:

• Moj auto

Then the clitic comes:

• je

That is why the word order is natural.

You will see this a lot in Croatian:

• Moj brat je ovdje.
• Ta kuća je velika.

Correct: Croatian does not have articles like the and a/an.

So škole by itself can mean:

• the school
• a school

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence, English would usually translate it as the school, but Croatian does not need a separate word for that.

Yes, you can, but the nuance changes slightly.

Common alternatives are:

• kraj škole = by / next to the school
• pored škole = beside / next to the school
• pokraj škole = next to / by the school, a bit more formal or literary in some contexts
• kod škole = at the school / by the school, often less exact physically
• blizu škole = near the school, not necessarily right next to it

So kraj škole and pored škole are very close in meaning here.

Usually, no — not if you mean the normal English sentence My car is parked by the school.

Here is the difference:

• Moj auto je parkiran kraj škole.
  = My car is parked by the school.
  This describes the car’s current state/location.

• Moj auto parkira kraj škole.
  = My car is parking by the school.
  This sounds like the car itself is actively doing the parking right now, which is unusual unless you are talking about a self-driving car or joking.

• Moj auto je parkirao kraj škole.
  = My car parked by the school.
  This also makes the car sound like the agent of the action, which is not the normal way to say it.

If you want to talk about the action done by a person, Croatian would more naturally say:

• Parkirao sam auto kraj škole. = I parked the car by the school.

So je parkiran is the right choice when you want the meaning is parked.