Djeca su gledala žabu koja je bila u travi.

The children were looking at a frog that was in the grass.

Breakdown of Djeca su gledala žabu koja je bila u travi.

• biti: to be
• u: in
• dijete: child
• koji: that

Questions & Answers about Djeca su gledala žabu koja je bila u travi.

Why is žabu used instead of žaba?

Because žabu is the accusative singular form of žaba.

Here, žaba is the direct object of gledala (watched / were watching), and direct objects after this verb normally go in the accusative:

• žaba = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• žabu = accusative, used here as the object

So:

• Djeca su gledala žabu. = The children were watching a frog.

Why is it su gledala? Why do we need su?

Croatian past tense is usually made with:

• a present-tense form of biti (to be)
• plus the l-participle

So:

• su = are/have-type auxiliary form for they
• gledala = past participle of gledati

Together, su gledala forms the past tense: were watching / watched.

Without su, the sentence would not be standard Croatian past tense.

Why is it gledala and not gledali?