40 More Prepositions

• • • Review: Basic Prepositions

Now, let me introduce more prepositions, dealing with space and time relations. Compared to u, iz, na, od, do, s these prepositions are more complex are use various cases. Some distinguish "motion to" from static position ("at"), some don't. Sometimes there's more than one preposition meaning the same thing.

More Position Prepositions

Let's take a look at preposition-case combinations that distinguish either motion (with acc.) or location (with ins.):

prep. + case	meaning		example
među + acc.		Moving towards a group of object "among"	Idem među ljude. "I'm going among men."
pod + acc.		Destination under something, to get below something	Idem pod krevet. "I'm going under the bed."
prëd + acc.		Motion up to front of something	Došao sam prëd ulaz. "I came to the entrance."
kroz + acc.		Moving through something, to another side	Idem kroz vrata. "I'm going through the door."
među + ins.		Being among a group of object "in midst of"	Sjedim među ljudima. "I'm sitting among men."
pod + ins.		Location under something, "under"	Mačka je pod krevetom. "The cat is under the bed."
prëd + ins.		Location in front of something, "in front of"	Čekam prëd ulazom. "I'm waiting in front of the entrance."
nad + ins.		Location above something, (seldom used, see iznad below)	Slika visi nad krevetom. "The picture hangs above the bed."

Preposition među is normally used with nouns in plural (među prstima), or collective nouns (među djëcom, među granjem).

There's a special preposition for two things only, između "between". It's needs genitive, and is used for both direction and location:

prep. + case	meaning		example
između + gen.		Between (two things)	Slovenija je između Hrvatske i Austrije. "Slovenia is between Croatia and Austria."

In fact, all prepositions starting on iz- or is- require only the gen. case.

The following combinations don't distinguish static locations from directions and all use the genitive case:

prep. + case	meaning		example
prëko + gen.		Being over top of something, going to another side	Idem prëko mosta. "I'm going over the bridge."
isprëd + gen.		Location in front of something "in front of"	Drvo raste isprëd kuće. "The tree grows in front of the house."
ispod + gen.		Location under something, "under"	Mačka spava ispod kreveta. "The cat sleeps under the bed."
iznad + gen.		Location above something, "above"	Slika visi iznad kreveta. "The picture hangs above the bed."
iza + gen.		Location behind something, "behind"	Ruže rastu iza kuće. "Roses grow behind the house.

In everyday use, ispod more frequent than pod; the latter sounds a bit poetic and bookish.

Remember: all prepositions that start with iz- (or is-) use only the genitive case.

Closeness Prepositions

The following preposition-case combinations mean both static locations and motion directions, meaning closeness to something (do I have already explained, but it's listed again for completeness). The cases vary:

prep. + case	meaning		example
po + dat. (!)		Being/moving on surface of something, or over all its enterior, always in contact with something	Hodam po cesti. "I'm walking on the road." Ruže rastu po kući. "Roses grow all over the house."
uz + acc. (!)		Being/moving very close to something, possibly touching it	Ruže rastu uz kuću. "Roses grow by the house."
do + gen.		Being/moving beside, next to something, not touching it	Ruže rastu do kuće. "Roses grow next to the house."
pored + gen.		Similar to do, but slighty farther	Ruže rastu pored kuće. "Roses grow beside the house."
oko(lo) + gen.		Being/moving around something	Idem oko kuće. "I'm going around the house." Ruže rastu oko kuće. "Roses grow around the house."
blizu + gen.		Being/moving "near" something	Ruže rastu blizu kuće. "Roses grow near the house."

There's no clear mark where pored ends, and blizu starts, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Very similar to pored is the preposition pokraj.

Path Prepositions

The preposition uz has another meaning, "up"; its opposite is niz:

prep. + case	meaning		example
uz + acc.		"Up" path, opposite to preferred direction	[to do]
niz + acc.		"Down" path, in preferred direction, "along"	[to do]

The preposition niz also means "along" something long and path-like (road, river, street)...

Prepositions prëd + dat. and iza + gen. have also meanings "before" and "after".

Updated 2014-08-19 (ver 0.4)