Croatian Tutorial: Basic Croatian Phrases,

Vocabulary and Grammar

Thanks to Sven for proofreading this tutorial and the volunteers at Rhinospike for the recordings. If you are interested
in authentic uses of language, go to Croatian realia (real-croatian.html) for photos taken in Croatia.

1. Basic Croatian Phrases

0:00 / 2:55

Dobar dan

Hello / Good Day (more formal)

Zdravo / Bok / ao

Hello, Hi / Bye

Do vienja / Zbogom

Goodbye (more formal)

Dobro jutro

Good Morning

Dobra veer

Good Evening

Laku no

Good Night

Molim

Please

Hvala (lijepa)

Thank you (very much)

Nema na emu

You're welcome

Dobrodoli

Welcome

Vidimo se kasnije

See you later

Vidimo se uskoro

See you soon

Idemo / Hajdemo

Let's go

Gospoa, gospoica

Madam, Miss

Gospodin

Mister

Da / Ne / Moda

Yes / No / Maybe

Oprosti / Oprostite

Excuse me (informal / formal)

ao mi je

I'm sorry

Kako ste?

How are you? (formal)

Dobro / Dobro sam

I'm ne

U redu sam

I'm OK

Kako ti ide? / Kako si?

How are you? (informal)

Dobro mi ide

I'm great

Nije mi tako dobro

I'm not so well

Kako se zovete?

What's your name? (formal)

Kako se zove?

What's your name? (informal)

Zovem se... / Ime mi je ...

I am... / My name is...

Drago mi je!

Nice to meet you!

Moete li mi pomoi?

Can you help me? (formal)

Moe li mi pomoi?

Can you help me? (informal)

Odakle ste?

Where are you from? (formal)

Odakle si?

Where are you from? (informal)

Ja sam iz ...

I'm from...

Koliko imate godina?

How old are you? (formal)

Koliko ima godina?

How old are you? (informal)

Ja imam __ godina.

I am ____ years old.

Govorite li ____? / Znate li ____?

Do you speak ____? (formal)

Govori li ____? / Zna li ____?

Do you speak ____? (informal)

[Ne] Govorim / Znam ...

I [don't] speak ...

Govorim malo... / Znam malo...

I speak a little...

[Ne] razumijem

I [don't] understand.

[Ne] znam

I [don't] know

hrvatski, srpski, engleski, njemaki, francuski, ruski, panjolski, portugalski, talijanski, arapski, kineski, japanski,
indonezijski
Croatian, Serbian, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,
Indonesian
Moete li to ponoviti?

Could you repeat that? (formal)

to ste rekli?

What does that mean?

Kako se kae ___ na hrvatskom?

How do you say ___ in Croatian?

Slobodno?

May I?

Htio / Htjela bih ___.

I would like ___. (male / female)

Nije vano.

It doesn't matter.

[Ne] slaem se.

I [don't] agree.

Gdje je ___?

Where is ___ ?

Koliko je to?

How much is this?

Gladan / Gladna sam.

I'm hungry. (male / female)

edan / edna sam.

I'm thirsty. (male / female)

Izgubio sam se / Izgubila sam se

I'm lost. (male / female)

Trenutak.

Just a moment.

Izvoli / Izvolite!

Here you go. (informal / formal)

Pouri / Pourite!

Hurry up! (informal / formal)

ta ima novoga?

What's new?

Nita novog.

Nothing much.

Sretno!

Good luck!

estitam!

Congratulations!

Nazdravlje!

Bless you! (after sneeze)

Ne brini!

Don't worry!

Upomo!

Help!

ivjeli!

Cheers!

Sretan put!

Have a nice trip!

Slatki snovi!

Sweet dreams!

Svia mi se.

I like you.

Volim te.

I love you.

Sretan roendan!

Happy birthday!

Sretan Boi!

Merry Christmas!

Sretna nova godina!

Happy New Year!

Sretni praznici/blagdani!

Happy Holidays!

Hvala, takoer!

Thanks, same to you!

Dobar tek!

Enjoy your meal!

2. Pronunciation

Letter

IPA

English example

Letter

IPA

English example

[a]

father

[l]

love

[b]

big

lj

[]

million

[]

ts

[m]

mom

[]

chat (softer sound)

[n]

no

[]

church (harder sound)

nj

[]

onion

[d]

do

[o]

hope

[]

jungle (harder sound)

[p]

pull

[]

jumbo (softer sound)

[r]

right (rolled)

[e]

bed

[s]

son

[f]

fan

[]

shed

[g]

good

[t]

table

[h / x]

happy / Bach

[u]

shoot

[i]

eat

[v]

vault

[j]

you

[z]

zero

[k]

kite

[]

pleasure

Vowels in Croatian are pure. There is no extra gliding sound such as at the end of the English words play, now, high,
etc.
Stress: Words with two or more syllables are never stressed on the last syllable (except in some dialects). However, in
most cases It can be difcult to guess where the stress should be in polysyllabic words so you will have to learn them
individually.

3. Croatian Alphabet
0:30 / 0:30

ah

luh

buh

lj

ljuh

tsuh

muh

chuh

nuh

chuh

nj

njuh

duh

oh

dzhuh

puh

dzhuh

ruh

uh

suh

fuh

shuh

guh

tuh

huh

oo

ee

vuh

yuh

zuh

kuh

zhuh

4. Croatian Nouns and Demonstratives

Croatian nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. In general, masculine nouns end in a consonant,
feminine nouns end in -a, and neuter nouns end in either -o or -e. Some exceptions: veer (evening) and no (night)
are feminine.
There are seven noun cases in the singular and in the plural. The cases show the grammatical function of a noun in a
sentence.

Case

Function

Nominative

who, what

tko, to

Genitive

whose, of what(possession, origins)

koga, ega

Dative

to whom, to what (indirect object)

komu, emu

Accusative

whom, what(direct object)

koga, to

Vocative

(calling / talking directly to someone)

dozivanje

Instrumental

with whom/what

s kim, im

Locative

about

o komu, o emu

Notice that locative forms are the same as the dative forms. The difference is that the locative always goes with
prepositions: o (about), u (in), na (on), po (over), pri (near), and prema (according to), while the dative stands alone or
goes with the preposition k / ka (toward).
Each noun in Croatian changes according to its case. Notice how the word for teacher (uitelj) changes in each of the
following sentences:

Singular Examples
Nominative

A teacher had a book.

Uitelj je imao knjigu.

Genitive

The teacher's book was big.

Knjiga uitelja je bila velika.

Dative

We went to the teacher.

Otili smo uitelju.

Accusative

And we asked the teacher.

I upitali smo uitelja.

Vocative

Teacher, is your book big?

Uitelju, je li vaa knjiga velika?

Instrumental

After our conversation with the

Poslije naeg razgovora sa uiteljem.

teacher.
Locative

We know more about the teacher.

Znamo vie o uitelju.

Besides possession, the genitive also answers the questions "From whom?" and "From where?". Thus a possible
genitive example could be Dobio sam knjigu od uitelja. (I got the book from the teacher.)

Plural Examples
Nominative

Some teachers had books.

Neki uitelji su imali knjige

Genitive

The teachers' books were big.

Knjige ucitelja su bile velike

Dative

We went to the teachers.

Otili smo uiteljima.

Accusative

And we asked the teacher.

I upitali smo uitelje.

Vocative

Teachers, are your books big?

Uitelji, jesu li vae knjige velike?

Instrumental

After the conversation with the

Poslije razgovora sa uiteljima.

teachers.
Locative

We know more about teachers.

Znamo vie o uiteljima.

The Croatian language does NOT use denite or indenite articles (a, an, the), but it does use demonstratives (this,
that, these, those). These demonstratives, like adjectives in Croatian, agree with the noun they precede, depending on
gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural), and case. Demonstratives can either act as adjectives
(modifying a noun) or pronouns (replacing the noun), and the nuances between the three forms for this/that or
these/those refers to the location of the object about which one is speaking.
0:00 / 0:21

this / that

masculine

feminine

neuter

close by

ovaj

ova

ovo

in between

taj

ta

to

further away

onaj

ona

ono

these / those

close by

ovi

ove

ova

in between

ti

te

ta

further away

oni

one

ona

5. General Vocabulary
0:00 / 0:46

and

a;i

friend (male)

prijatelj

but

but;nego

friend (female)

prijateljica

only

samo, jedino

man

mukarac

now

sad

woman

ena

always

uvijek

boy

djeak

never

nikad

girl

djevojica

something

neto

child

dijete

nothing

nita

book

knjiga

also / too

takoer

pencil

olovka

again

opet, iznova, jojednom

paper

papir

almost

za malo

dog

pas

of course

p d; naravno

cat

maka

6. Subject Pronouns
0:00 / 0:09

Singular

Plural

ja

mi

we

ti

you (familiar)

vi

you (formal)

on

he

oni

they (masc.)

ona

she

one

they (fem.)

ono

it

ona

they (neut.)

Vi is used when addressing a stranger, someone you do not know, or a person of authority and can be used in the
singular or plural sense. Ti is used with family members and animals and shows familiarity with the person. Vi can
also be used with family members and animals in the plural sense, but not the singular. It is also used in the formal
sense.

7. To Be & To Have / Biti & imati

0:00 / 0:47

Subject pronouns are not used very often, except when you want to show emphasis. The conjugations of biti (to be)
are a little confusing because there are two forms: short and long. The short forms are never stressed and a sentence
cannot begin with them, except je when it begins a question. The long forms are used to ask questions, to answer a
question with a short reply and to afrm an answer.

biti - to be

short forms
(ja)sam

Iam

(mi) smo

weare

(ti) si

you are

(vi) ste

you are

(on/a/o) je

he/she/it is

(oni/e/a) su

theyare

long forms
(ja)jesam

Iam

(mi) jesmo

weare

(ti) jesi

you are

(vi) jeste

you are

(on/a/o) jest

he/she/it is

(oni/e/a) jesu

theyare


Ja sam dobar student. I am a good student.

Jesam li u pravu? Am I right?

Student sam. I am a student.

Jesi. Yes (you are).

Dobar sam student. I am a good student.

Jeste li gladni? Are you hungry?

Je li on student? Is he a student?

Jesam. Yes (I am.)

imati - tohave
(ja) imam

Ihave

(mi) imamo

we have

(ti) ima

you have

(vi) imate

you have

(on/a/o) ima

he/she/ithas

(oni/e/a) imaju

they have

The negative of biti and imati use different conjugated forms, unlike English where we insert not or do not.

Negatives
negative of biti - to not be
(ja)nisam

Iam not

(mi) nismo

weare not

(ti) nisi

you are not

(vi) niste

you are not

(on/a/o) nije

he/she/it is not

(oni/e/a) nisu

theyare not

negative of imati - to not have

(ja)nemam

Ido not have

(mi) nemamo

wedo not have

(ti) nema

you do not have

(vi) nemate

you do not have

(on/a/o) nema

he/she/it does not have

(oni/e/a) nemaju

theydo not have

8. Questions / Pitanja
0:00 / 0:30

what

to

why

zato

who

tko

how

kako

where

gdje

how much/many

koliko

where to

kamo

how long

koliko dugo

where from

otkud / odakle

which

koji

when

kad / kada

which way

kuda

To ask a yes or no question in Croatian, use the verb and then the particle li:
Do you understand Croatian? Razumijete li hrvatski?
Can you swim? Znate li plivati?
Can you play football? Znate li igrati nogomet?

9. Cardinal & Ordinal Numbers / Glavni & redovni brojevi

zero

nula

one

jedan

rst

prvi

two

dva

second

drugi

three

tri

third

trei

four

etiri

fourth

etvrti

ve

pet

fth

peti

six

est

sixth

esti

seven

sedam

seventh

sedmi

eight

osam

eighth

osmi

nine

devet

ninth

deveti

ten

deset

tenth

deseti

eleven

jedanaest

eleventh

jedanaesti

twelve

dvanaest

twelfth

dvanaesti

thirteen

trinaest

thirteenth

trinaesti

fourteen

etrnaest

fourteenth

etrnaesti

fteen

petnaest

fteenth

petnaesti

sixteen

esnaest

sixteenth

esnaesti

seventeen

sedamnaest

seventeenth

sedamnaesti

eighteen

osamnaest

eighteenth

osamnaesti

nineteen

devetnaest

nineteenth

devetnaesti

twenty

dvadeset

twentieth

dvadeseti

twenty-one

dvadeset jedan

twenty-rst

dvadeset prvi

twenty-two

dvadeset dva

twenty-second

dvadeset drugi

thirty

trideset

fourty

etrdeset

fty

pedeset

sixty

ezdeset

seventy

sedamdeset

eighty

osamdeset

ninety

devedeset

one hundred

sto /stotina

one hundred one

sto jedan / stotinu jedan

two hundred

dvjesto / dvjesta / dvije

stotine
one thousand

tisuu

million

milijun

billion

milijarda

Jedan (one) and dva (two) behave like adjectives - they have gender and declension (cases):Jedan bik (one bull),
jedna krava (one cow), jedno tele (one calf), dva bika, dvije krave, dva teleta...

The counted noun is in nominative singular with jedan; genitive singular with dva, tri, etiri; and genitive plural with
pet and higher: Pet bikova, deset krava...
For ordinal numbers, masculine ends in -i, feminine ends in -a, and neuter ends in -o, which you simply add to the
cardinal number (except for prvi, drugi, trei, etvrti). Note that sedam and osam lose their -a before adding the
endings.

10. Days / Dani

Monday

ponedjeljak

tonight / this evening

veeras

Tuesday

utorak

birthday

roendan

Wednesday

srijeda

holiday

praznik

Thursday

etvrtak

tomorrow

sutra

Friday

petak

yesterday

juer

Saturday

subota

day before yesterday

prekjuer

Sunday

nedjelja

day after tomorrow

prekosutra

day

dan

week

tjedan

today

danas

weekend

vikend

morning

jutro

this week

ovaj tjedan

evening

veer

next week

idui tjedan

afternoon

poslije podne

last week

proli tjedan

night

no

every week

svakog tjedna

last Saturday

prole subote

in two weeks

za dva tjedna

next Thursday

idui etvrtak

two weeks ago

pred dva tjedna

What day is today? Koji dan je danas?

Today is Friday. Danas je petak.

11. Months / Mjeseci

January

sijeanj

month

mjesec

February

veljaa

year

godina

March

oujak

decade

desetljee

April

travanj

century

stoljee

May

svibanj

millenium

milenijum

June

lipanj

this month

ovog mjeseca

July

srpanj

next month

idui mjesec

August

kolovoz

last month

proli mjesec

September

rujan

every month

skavog mjeseca

October

listopad

in a year

u toku godine

November

studeni

for a year

za godinu dana

December

prosinac

three years ago

natrag tri godine

What's the date? Koji je datum?

It is the 12th of January. Ovo je dvanaesti sijenja.

12. Seasons / Godisnja doba

spring

proljee

in the spring

u proljee

summer

ljeto

in the summer

u ljetu

winter

zima

in the winter

u zimi

fall

jesen

in the fall

u jesen

13. Directions / Smjer

right

desno

north

sjever

left

lijevo

south

jug

straight

ravno

east

istok

this/that way

ovim/onim putom

west

zapad

14. Colors & Shapes / Boje & oblika

black

crn

circle

krug

blue

plav

square

kvadrat

dark blue

modri

rectangle

pravokutnik

brown

sme

triangle

trokut

green

zelen

oval

ovalan

orange

naranast

diamond

dijamant

purple

ljubiast

sphere

sfera

red

crven

cube

kocka

pink

ruiast

pyramind

piramida

white

bijel

cone

konus

yellow

ut

cylinder

cilindar

grey

siv

Colors are placed before nouns in Croatian, just as in English. Because colors are adjectives, they must agree with the
noun they are modifying. If the noun is feminine, add -a, and if the noun is neuter, add -o. For example, smea is the
feminine form of brown, plavo is the neuter form of blue.

15. Telling Time / Kako reci vrijeme

What time is it?

Koliko je sati?

It's...

Sada je...

01:00

jedan sat

03:05

tri i pet

06:10

est i deset

04:15

etiri i etvrt/ etiri i petnaest

07:30

sedam i trideset / pola osam

12:45

etvrt do jedan

midnight

pono

noon

podne

second

sekunda

hour

sat

minute

minuta

half hour

pola sata

quarter hour / 15 minutes

etvrt sata

Ofcial time, such as at train stations and for television programs, uses the 24-hour clock.
Notice that if you use pola (half), you need to use the number that follows the current hour: 7:30 is half eight (pola
osam).

16. Weather / Vrijeme

What's the weather like today?

Kakvo je vrijeme? / Kako je vani?

Today it's...

Danas je...

sunny

sunano

overcast

oblano

cool

hladno

warm

toplo

hot

vrue

cold

studeno

humid

vlano

foggy

maglovito

windy

pue vjetar

It's raining

Pada kia

It's snowing

Pada snijeg

17. Family / Obitelj

family

obitelj

grandmother

baka

relatives

rodbina

grandfather

djed, djedica

mother

majka

granddaughter

unuka

father

otac

grandson

unuk

mom

mama

cousin (male)

brati

dad

tata

cousin (female)

sestrina

baby

beba

niece

neakinja

child / children

dijete / djeca

nephew

neak

daughter

ki, ker, kerka

spouse (male)

suprug

son

sin

spouse (female)

supruga

sister

sestra

wife

ena

brother

brat

husband

mu

The translations for aunt and uncle depend on the family relationship in Croatian:

aunt (mother's/father's sister)

teta

uncle (mother's/father's sister's husband)

tetak

uncle (father's brother)

stric

aunt (father's brother's wife)

strina

uncle (mother's brother)

ujak

aunt (mother's brother's wife)

ujna

18. To Know People & Facts / Poznavati & znati

poznavati - to know people

znati - to know facts

poznajem

poznajemo

znam

znamo

poznaje

poznajete

zna

znate

poznaje

poznaju

zna

znaju

When you talk about people, you should use the verb poznavati, but it is not necessarily a mistake to use znati.
Similarly, you should use znati when talking about knowing things or facts, but it it not a mistake to use poznavati.
To make a verb negative, simply put ne in front of it.
Ne znam. I don't know.

19. Formation of Plural Nouns

The plural of animate masculine nouns is formed by adding -i, -evi, or -ovi. The masculine inanimate nouns with hard
endings end in -ovi, while the soft endings end in -evi. A few masculine nouns drop the nal -n in the plural. Feminine
plural nouns end in -e, unless they have a consonant ending, then they will end in -i. All neuter nouns end in -a in the
plural.

singular

plural

Masc: add -i

mjesec

month

mjeseci

months

Masc: add -evi

broj

number

brojevi

numbers

Masc: add -ovi

trag

rail / track

tragovi

rails / tracks

Masc: drop -n

graanin

citizen

graani

citizens

Fem: change to -e

ruka

hand

ruke

hands

Fem: add -i

la

lie

lai

lies

Neuter: change to -a

polje

eld

polja

elds

Some words insert -et- or -en- between the base and the plural ending. For example, ime (name) becomes imena
(names).

20. Possessive Adjectives

masc.

fem.

neuter

masc. plural

fem. plural

neut. plural

my

moj

moja

moje

moji

moje

moja

your

tvoj

tvoja

tvoje

tvoji

tvoje

tvoja

his / its

njegov

njegova

njegovo

njegovi

njegove

njegova

her

njezin

njezina

njezino

njezini

njezine

njezina

our

na

naa

nae

nai

nae

naa

your

va

vaa

vae

vai

vae

vaa

their

njihov

njihova

njihovo

njihovi

njihove

njihova

Please keep in mind that the above forms are in the nominative case, which means these particular words are only
used in the subject of the sentence. For other cases, there are slight changes to the words.

Most of this tutorial has been checked by a native speaker of Croatian from Zagreb, but if you are a native speaker
and see a mistake on this page, please let me know.

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Linguistics101:AnIntroductiontothe
StudyofLanguage

LearnBasicFrenchPhrases(with
pronunciation)

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AvatarjohnamanaBonjourtulemonde

RomnskejazykyPorovnvacieSlovn
zsobaZoznamy:obyajnfrzyvo
francztine,talianine,panieline,a
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FrancsTutorialesMP3:Escucharal
FrancsVocabulario,Gramticay
Oracionesdeejemplo
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AvatarAnnonyImetalotofspanishspeakers
aroundtheworldandIhaven'tseenanyone
whosaid"Chao",itis"Chau".Bythewaymy
firstlanguageisspanish.And...Isawjust

AvatarJennieWagnerClickonthewordonlinein
theveryfirstsentence.

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