Stepenište je pored podruma.

to be

Breakdown of Stepenište je pored podruma.

• pored: beside
• stepenište: a staircase
• podrum: a basement; cellar

Questions & Answers about Stepenište je pored podruma.

What does stepenište mean exactly? Is it the same as stairs?

Not exactly.

• stepenište usually means staircase, stairway, or stairwell as a structure or area.
• stepenice more often means stairs or steps themselves.

So in this sentence, stepenište is best understood as the staircase/stairwell, not just individual steps.

Why is it podruma and not podrum?

Because the preposition pored requires the genitive case.

• dictionary form: podrum = basement
• genitive singular: podruma

So:

• pored podruma = next to the basement

This is very common in Serbian: the preposition determines the case of the noun after it.

What case is podruma?

podruma is genitive singular.

Here is the breakdown:

• podrum = nominative singular
• podruma = genitive singular

The reason is that pored takes the genitive.

What case is stepenište?