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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 55 More Preposions 320 / 60055 More PrepositionsIt might be a surprise to you that in Croatian, most prepositions require nouns ingenitive.There are various spatial prepositions that indicate closeness; they are shown herefrom the closest to the most distant:do¨ + G byuz¨ + A next tooko¨ + G aroundpored¨ + G besidekod¨ + G at, byblizu + G nearNot all prepositions listed above use the genitive case, but are listed here becausethey belong to this group. The word blizu is not strictly a preposition, as it can beused on its own.There a very interesting preposition that indicates (when used with DL, you’ll seeother uses later!) that a motion is along surface, broadly understood:po¨ + DL on the surface ofFor example, if somebody (e.g. a child) is crawling on the floor – Croatian has theverb puzati (puže) – you would use this preposition to indicate space where themotion happens. It’s not a direction (you don’t indicate what the goal is) but a kindof location:Dijete N puže po podu DL . The child is crawling on the floor.puzatiThe preposition na¨ + DL is not used when you describe motion.Another classic use of this preposition with DL is to describe a motion that’sconstantly against some surface, e.g. jumping or banging:Goran N skače po krevetu DL . Goran is jumping on the bed.skakatiThe difference between na¨ + A and po¨ + DL when expressing motion can be nicelyillustrated with the following sentences:Trčim na plažu A . (A) I’m running to the beach.Trčim po plaži DL . (DL) I’m running on the beach.The first sentence expresses destination, the second location (as a surface) wherethe entire motion happens. Another common use of po¨ + DL is when someone istraveling across a country, i.e. visiting many parts (regardless of the country notperceived as a surface):Putujemo po Europi DL . We’re traveling across Europe. ®There’s another preposition:prema + DL towards / according toThis preposition is used to describe orientation or direction, not a destination, e.g.trčatitrčatiputovati
Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 55 More Preposions 321 / 600when you tell someone to move two steps in the direction of something, or you turntowards something (which can be a cardinal direction).It’s also used to express ‘according to’, either a person or something else:Ovo N nije prema pravilima DL . This is not according to the rules.Prema karti DL , imamo još dva kilometra 24 do vrha G . According to the map, we havetwo kilometers more to the top.Together with the generic pronoun to, it’s used in a frequent phrase to start asentence:Prema tome,... ‘According to that,...’ = Therefore,...Some nouns have specific meanings with prepositions. One of most common is red.This noun has one generic meaning: order. For instance, the TV series Law & Order istranslated as Zakon i red.A common phrase that includes a preposition and this word is:u redu DL alright, OKThis is, for example, used in a frequent phrase:Sve N je u redu DL . Everything is OK.However, there’s a derived meaning of this noun: an order of waiting, either aphysical waiting line, or a waiting list. When you are waiting and someone else isalso waiting, there are specific meanings with prepositions u¨ and na¨:u¨ + red (DL / A) waiting, in linena¨ + red (DL / A) at the front, about to be servedI wrote (DL / A) to remind you that the usual distinction of location (DL) vs.destination (A) applies here as well, no matter how metaphorical the place is. Forinstance, when you want to tell someone that it’s his or her turn to be served, youshould say (politely, or to a group):Vi N ste na redu DL . You’re next.(The Croatian expression is also used when people are talking turns, it correspondsto It’s your turn. then.). However, there’s another way (a bit rarer) to express this,which used ‘rotated’ cases, now one who is about to be served is expressed with na¨+ A:Red N je na vas A . (the same meaning)Another example, if you ask who should be served (you can hear it in shops, whenmore than one person is waiting at one counter):Tko N je na redu DL ? Who’s next?There’s yet another preposition which is used in waiting:
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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 55 More Preposions 320 / 600
55 More Prepositions
It might be a surprise to you that in Croatian, most prepositions require nouns in
genitive.
There are various spatial prepositions that indicate closeness; they are shown here
from the closest to the most distant:
do¨ + G by
uz¨ + A next to
oko¨ + G around
pored¨ + G beside
kod¨ + G at, by
blizu + G near
Not all prepositions listed above use the genitive case, but are listed here because
they belong to this group. The word blizu is not strictly a preposition, as it can be
used on its own.
There a very interesting preposition that indicates (when used with DL, you’ll see
other uses later!) that a motion is along surface, broadly understood:
po¨ + DL on the surface of
For example, if somebody (e.g. a child) is crawling on the floor – Croatian has the
verb puzati (puže) – you would use this preposition to indicate space where the
motion happens. It’s not a direction (you don’t indicate what the goal is) but a kind
of location:
Dijete N puže po podu DL . The child is crawling on the floor.
puzati
The preposition na¨ + DL is not used when you describe motion.
Another classic use of this preposition with DL is to describe a motion that’s
constantly against some surface, e.g. jumping or banging:
Goran N skače po krevetu DL . Goran is jumping on the bed.
skakati
The difference between na¨ + A and po¨ + DL when expressing motion can be nicely
illustrated with the following sentences:
Trčim na plažu A . (A) I’m running to the beach.
Trčim po plaži DL . (DL) I’m running on the beach.
The first sentence expresses destination, the second location (as a surface) where
the entire motion happens. Another common use of po¨ + DL is when someone is
traveling across a country, i.e. visiting many parts (regardless of the country not
perceived as a surface):
Putujemo po Europi DL . We’re traveling across Europe. ®
There’s another preposition:
prema + DL towards / according to
This preposition is used to describe orientation or direction, not a destination, e.g.
trčati
trčati
putovati
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