Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni.

Metvica is the nominative singular form, because it is the subject of the sentence.

• metvica = mint
• It is a feminine noun
• Dictionary form: metvica

So in Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni, metvica is the thing that is growing.

Yes, metvica is a standard Croatian word for mint, especially in gardening, plants, and herbs.

You may also come across menta, which is also used, but metvica is very common and often feels more native in many contexts.

So both can refer to mint, but in a sentence about how the plant grows, metvica sounds very natural.

Dobro here is an adverb, meaning well.

It modifies the verb raste (grows), not the noun metvica.

• dobro raste = grows well

If you used dobra, that would be an adjective meaning good in the feminine singular form, and it would describe a noun, not the action.

Compare:

• Metvica dobro raste. = Mint grows well.
• Metvica je dobra. = The mint is good.

Raste is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb rasti (to grow).

That is why it matches metvica, which is singular:

• ja rastem = I grow
• ti rasteš = you grow
• on/ona/ono raste = he/she/it grows

In this sentence, the present tense is used the same way it often is in English for general truths:

• Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni.
• Mint grows well in partial shade.

Because Croatian, like English, often uses the present tense for general statements, habits, and facts.

So raste does not have to mean only is growing right now. It can also mean:

• grows
• tends to grow
• grows well as a general rule

In plant-care or gardening contexts, this is completely normal.

Because the preposition u requires different cases depending on the meaning.

Here, u means in or in a location, so it takes the locative case.

The noun is:

• polusjena = partial shade

Its locative singular is:

• polusjeni

So:

• u polusjeni = in partial shade

If you left it as polusjena, that would be the basic nominative form, which would not fit here.

Polusjena means partial shade or semi-shade.

It is made up of:

• polu- = half, semi-
• sjena = shade, shadow

So literally it is something like half-shade.

This is a very useful word in gardening and plant descriptions.

Because u can mean either:

• in/at a place → usually locative
• into a place → usually accusative

Here the meaning is location, not movement:

• Metvica raste u polusjeni. = Mint grows in partial shade.

There is no motion into the shade, so the locative is used.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence as given:

• Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni.

is a very neutral, natural order.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• U polusjeni metvica dobro raste.
• Dobro raste metvica u polusjeni.

These may shift emphasis slightly, but the original version is probably the most straightforward for a general statement.

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

So metvica can mean:

• mint
• the mint

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English naturally says Mint grows well in partial shade, but Croatian simply says Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni with no article.

It can be understood either way, depending on context, but most naturally it sounds like a general statement about mint as a plant.

So it works like English:

• Mint grows well in partial shade.

If the speaker were talking about a specific mint plant, the same Croatian sentence could still be used, and the context would tell you that.

Yes. That is also grammatical.

Both of these are natural:

• Metvica dobro raste u polusjeni.
• Metvica raste dobro u polusjeni.

Putting dobro before the verb is very common and sounds smooth, but placing it after the verb is also possible.

Rasti is imperfective.

That makes sense here because the sentence describes an ongoing characteristic or general process, not a single completed event.

Croatian often uses imperfective verbs for:

• habits
• repeated actions
• general truths
• descriptions of how something develops

So raste is exactly what you would expect in this sentence.