iz + Genitive

From Inside or from a Place

Level 2

Iz describes coming from inside a place or originating from a country, town or other source. Its complement uses the genitive.

How It Works

Dolazim iz Hrvatske. identifies an origin. Izlazim iz kuće. describes movement out of an interior. Hrvatska and kuća take genitive forms after iz.

Different nouns follow different genitive patterns: iz Zagreba, iz sela, iz škole. Do not keep a nominative place name simply because English from does not change its noun.

Iz is not the source preposition for every location. A location conventionally expressed with na may use s for the corresponding source, as in na poslu/s posla. Learn the spatial pair with the place or activity.

Examples (3)

  1. Dolazim iz Hrvatske.

    I come from Croatia.

    Hrvatska changes to genitive Hrvatske.

  2. Ana izlazi iz škole.

    Ana is coming out of school.

    Iz škole marks a source from inside.

  3. Putujemo iz Zagreba.

    We are travelling from Zagreb.

    Zagreb takes genitive Zagreba.

How It Connects

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

iz + GenitiveLevel 2From Inside or from a Place

Learn This First

The governing word selects a genitive noun phrase, so identify the genitive form before expanding this construction.

Words in This Pattern