U kuhinji je bio mali požar, ali su ga brzo ugasili.

to be

Breakdown of U kuhinji je bio mali požar, ali su ga brzo ugasili.

• mali: small
• u: in
• ali: but

Questions & Answers about U kuhinji je bio mali požar, ali su ga brzo ugasili.

Why is it u kuhinji and not u kuhinja?

Because after u meaning in for a location, Croatian uses the locative case.

• kuhinja = the basic dictionary form, nominative
• u kuhinji = in the kitchen (location, locative)

A very useful contrast is:

• u kuhinji = in the kitchen (already there)
• u kuhinju = into the kitchen (movement toward it)

So here u kuhinji is used because the fire was located there.

Why does the sentence say je bio?

This is the past tense. Croatian commonly forms the past with:

• a short form of biti (je, su, etc.)
• plus the l-participle

Here:

• je = is/has as the past auxiliary for he/it
• bio = masculine singular past participle

So je bio means was.

It is bio because požar is a masculine singular noun.

Compare:

• požar je bio = the fire was
• vatra je bila = the fire/flame was
• selo je bilo = the village was