Questions & Answers about Hvataljke su pored rešetke.
What does su mean here?
Su is the 3rd person plural present form of biti (to be).
So:
- ja sam = I am
- ti si = you are
- on/ona/ono je = he/she/it is
- mi smo = we are
- vi ste = you are
- oni/one/ona su = they are
In this sentence, hvataljke is plural, so Serbian uses su:
Hvataljke su ... = The clamps/tongs are ...
Why is it rešetke and not rešetka?
Because the preposition pored requires the genitive case.
The dictionary form is rešetka.
Its genitive singular is rešetke.
So:
- rešetka = base form
- pored rešetke = next to / beside the grate
This is a very common pattern in Serbian: certain prepositions always force a specific case, and pored takes the genitive.
What case is hvataljke in?
Here, hvataljke is in the nominative plural because it is the subject of the sentence.
You can see that from the agreement: