Povodac je pored vrata.

to be

Breakdown of Povodac je pored vrata.

• vrata: door
• pored: beside
• povodac: the leash

Questions & Answers about Povodac je pored vrata.

Why is there no word for the in this sentence?

Serbian has no articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

That means Povodac je pored vrata can be interpreted as the leash is by the door or a leash is by the door, depending on context. In real use, the situation usually makes it clear which one is meant.

What does pored do here, grammatically?

Pored is a preposition meaning beside / next to / by.

The important grammar point is that pored takes the genitive case. So the noun after it must be in genitive:

• pored stola = beside the table
• pored kuće = beside the house
• pored vrata = beside the door

So in this sentence, vrata is there because pored requires that case.

Why is it vrata after pored? Shouldn’t the form change?

This is a very common question because vrata is a special noun.

Vrata is a plural-only noun in Serbian. Even when it means one door in English, it is grammatically treated like a plural form. Because of that, some of its case forms look identical.

For vrata, the forms are:

• nominative: vrata
• genitive: vrata