Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

to be

Breakdown of Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

• ja: I
• voleti: to like
• ali: but

Questions & Answers about Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

Why is it plaže and not plaža?

Because blizu normally requires the genitive case in Serbian.

• Basic form: plaža = beach
• After blizu: blizu plaže = near the beach

So the pattern is:

• blizu hotela = near the hotel
• blizu grada = near the city
• blizu plaže = near the beach

This is one of the most important things to remember in the sentence.

What case is bazen, and why does it stay the same?

Bazen is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of volim.

You are liking/preferring the pool, so pool is the object.

The reason it does not change in form is that masculine inanimate nouns often have:

• nominative singular = accusative singular

So:

• bazen (nominative) = pool
• volim bazen (accusative) = I like/prefer the pool

Compare that with an animate masculine noun:

• pas = dog
• volim psa = I like the dog

So bazen is accusative, even though it looks the same as nominative.