Croatian Prepositions & Cases
A Croatian preposition never travels alone — each one demands a specific case from the noun after it. Learn the preposition and its case together, as one unit, and half the case system installs itself for free.
Prepositions Choose Cases
The same noun wears different endings depending on the preposition in front:
- iz Zagreba — from Zagreb (genitive)
- u Zagrebu — in Zagreb (locative)
- u Zagreb — to Zagreb (accusative)
Three phrases, one city, three endings — and each is completely predictable from the preposition + meaning.
The Genitive Crowd
The biggest gang of prepositions all take the genitive:
Kod is a small treasure: kod mene — at my place; Idem kod liječnika — I'm going to the doctor's.
u and na: Direction vs Location
The pair you'll use most. Each takes two cases — and the case answers a question:
Motion → accusative; parked → locative. One vowel of difference (u grad vs u gradu) carries the whole distinction, so Croatian ears listen for it closely. (Croatian even keeps a dedicated question word for direction — kamo? — alongside gdje? for location.)
Choosing between u and na: u goes with enclosed places (u kući, u školi, u kinu), na with surfaces, events, and open spaces (na stolu, na utakmici, na trgu) — plus the idiomatic na kavi (out for coffee) and na poslu (at work).
s: With
s (or sa before tricky clusters) + instrumental covers company and accompaniment:
Means of transport skip the preposition entirely and use the bare instrumental: idem autobusom / vlakom — by bus / by train.
The Beginner's Cheat Sheet
Seven anchor phrases, spoken aloud until they feel obvious — that's the entire assignment.