Bol u stomaku je jak.

to be

Breakdown of Bol u stomaku je jak.

• u: in
• stomak: stomach
• jak: strong

Questions & Answers about Bol u stomaku je jak.

What is the literal word-for-word breakdown of Bol u stomaku je jak?

A natural breakdown is:

• bol = pain
• u = in
• stomaku = stomach
• je = is
• jak = strong

So literally it is something like Pain in the stomach is strong. In natural English, that usually becomes The stomach pain is strong / severe or The pain in my stomach is strong depending on context.

Why is it u stomaku and not u stomak?

Because u can take different cases depending on meaning.

• u + accusative = motion into something
  
  • Idem u stomak would not normally make sense here, but grammatically it would suggest movement into the stomach.
• u + locative = being in something, location
  
  • u stomaku = in the stomach

In this sentence, we are talking about the location of the pain, not movement, so Serbian uses the locative: u stomaku.

Is stomaku locative or dative here?

Here it is locative.

The form stomaku can look the same as the dative singular form, but the preposition u in this meaning requires the . So in , the function is locative: .