Stavi šalicu na tanjurić da ne ostane mrlja na stolu.

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Breakdown of Stavi šalicu na tanjurić da ne ostane mrlja na stolu.

• na: on
• stol: table
• šalica: cup

Questions & Answers about Stavi šalicu na tanjurić da ne ostane mrlja na stolu.

Why is it šalicu and not šalica?

Because šalicu is the accusative singular of šalica.

In this sentence, šalicu is the direct object of Stavi: it is the thing you are putting somewhere.

• šalica = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• šalicu = accusative singular

A very common pattern in Croatian is:

• Stavi knjigu na stol. = Put the book on the table.
• Uzmi olovku. = Take the pencil.

So here:

• Stavi šalicu... = Put the cup...

Why do we say na tanjurić, but later na stolu?