ispred, iza, ispod, iznad

In Front, Behind, Under, Above

Level 3

Place words with the genitive.

How It Works

wordmeaningexample
ispredin front ofispred škole
izabehindiza pošte
ispodunderispod stola
iznadaboveiznad grada
izmeđubetweenizmeđu škole i pošte

The genitive of masculine and neuter nouns ends in -a, and the genitive of feminine nouns in -a ends in -e: stola, sela, škole.

You have met pred, nad and pod already. They mean nearly the same, but they take the instrumental. A simple way to remember: the longer forms ispred, ispod and iznad take the genitive, and the short forms pred, nad and pod take the instrumental.

All of these are for places. For time, use prije and poslije.

Examples (4)

  1. Čekam te ispred škole.

    I will wait for you in front of the school.

    Škole is the genitive of škola.

  2. Autobus je iza pošte.

    The bus is behind the post office.

    Pošte is the genitive of pošta.

  3. Mačka je ispod stola.

    The cat is under the table.

    Stola is the genitive of sto.

  4. Park je između škole i pošte.

    The park is between the school and the post office.

    Između takes the genitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the instrumental after ispred.

    Čekam te ispred školom.
    Čekam te ispred škole.

    Ispred takes the genitive, not the instrumental.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ispred, iza, ispod, iznadLevel 3In Front, Behind, Under, Above

Learn This First

These prepositions take the genitive.

Words in This Pattern

ispredizaispodiznadizmeđu