| prep. + case | meaning | example |
|---|
| u + dat. |
 |
Static location, meant to be
within something, "in" |
Živim u gradu.
"I'm living in the city." |
| na + dat. |
 |
Static location, meant to be
on surface of something, "at, on" |
Vidim brod na moru.
"I see a ship at sea." |
|
|---|
| u + acc. |
 |
Destination, meant to be
within something, "into" |
Idem u grad.
"I'm going to the city." |
| na + acc. |
 |
Destination, meant to be
on top of something, "onto" |
Idem na krov.
"I'm going onto the roof." |
|
|---|
| iz + gen. |
 |
Origin, meant to be
within something, "out of", "from" |
Idem iz grada.
"I'm going from the city." |
| s + gen. |
 |
Origin, meant to be
on surface of something; "off" |
Idem s krova.
"I'm going off the roof." |
| od + gen. |
 |
Origin, meant to be
close to something, start;
"from", "since" |
Idem od kuće.
"I'm going from the house." |
| do + gen. |
 |
Destination, meant to
some final limit, end;
"to", "until" |
Idem do kraja.
"I'm going to (the) end." |
| prep. + case | meaning | example |
|---|
| kroz + acc. |
 |
Moving through something,
to another side |
Idem kroz vrata.
"I'm going through the door." |
| 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." |
| pred + acc. |
 |
Motion up to front of something
|
Došao sam pred ulaz.
"I came to the entrance." |
|
|---|
| 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." |
| nad + ins. |
 |
Location above something,
(seldom used, see iznad below) |
Slika visi nad krevetom.
"The picture hangs above the bed." |
| pred + ins. |
 |
Location in front of something,
"in front of" |
Čekam pred ulazom.
"I'm waiting in front of the entrance." |
Preposition među is normally used with nouns in plural, or collective nouns, e.g. među djëcom, među prstima.
There's a special preposition for two things only, like "between", it's 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." |
| prep. + case | meaning | example |
|---|
| po + dat. (!) |
 |
Being/moving onsurface 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 father |
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." |
The following combinations also stand for both static locations and directions:
| prep. + case | meaning | example |
|---|
| prëko + gen. |
 |
Being over top of something,
going to another side |
Idem prëko mosta.
"I'm going over the bridge." |
| 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. |
Prepositions prëd + dat. and iza + gen. have also meanings "before" and "after".
Non-spatial:
| prep. + case | meaning | example |
|---|
| s + ins. | company |
Pijem kavu s Anom.
"I'm drinking coffee with Ana." |
| bez + gen. | lack,
opp. to company |
Otišli su bez mene.
"They left without me." |
zbog + gen.
radi + gen. | reason |
Kasnim zbog mägle.
"I'm late because of the fog." |
| o + dat. | "about" |
Razgovaramo o Ani.
"We're talking about Ana." |
| za + acc. | recipient |
Ovo je za mene.
"This is for me." |
| na + acc. | mode, "how"
(with static verbs) |
Igračka radi na baterije
"The toy runs on batteries" |
| po + dat. | situation, "while" |
Šetali smo po kiši.
"We walked in rain." |
po + dat.
prema + dat. | "according to" | On ne igra po pravilima.
"He's not playing by the rules." |
| po + acc. | "to pick up", reason
(with motion verbs) | Vratio säm se po ključ.
"I returned to pick up the key." |
| po + acc. | distribution |
Dobili su po 100 kuna.
"They got 100 kuna each." |
| acc + po + acc. | iteration |
Dolaze jedan po jedan.
"They're arriving one by one." |
