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 / Ćao Hello, Hi / Bye

Do viđenja / Zbogom Goodbye (more formal)

Dobro jutro Good Morning

Dobra večer Good Evening

Laku noć Good Night

Molim Please

Hvala (lijepa) Thank you (very much)

Nema na čemu You're welcome

Dobrodošli Welcome

Vidimo se kasnije See you later

Vidimo se uskoro See you soon

Idemo / Hajdemo Let's go

Gospođa, gospođica Madam, Miss

Gospodin Mister

Da / Ne / Možda Yes / No / Maybe

Oprosti / Oprostite Excuse me (informal / formal)

Žao mi je I'm sorry

Kako ste? How are you? (formal)

Dobro / Dobro sam I'm ᕈne

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 zoveš? What's your name? (informal)

Zovem se... / Ime mi je ... I am... / My name is...

Drago mi je! Nice to meet you!

Možete li mi pomoći? Can you help me? (formal)

Možeš li mi pomoći? 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 imaš godina? How old are you? (informal)

Ja imam __ godina. I am ____ years old.

Govorite li ____? / Znate li ____? Do you speak ____? (formal)

Govoriš li ____? / Znaš 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, njemački, francuski, ruski, španjolski, portugalski, talijanski, arapski, kineski, japanski,
indonezijski
Croatian, Serbian, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,
Indonesian

Možete li to ponoviti? Could you repeat that? (formal)

Što ste rekli? What does that mean?

Kako se kaže ___ na hrvatskom? How do you say ___ in Croatian?

Slobodno? May I?

Htio / Htjela bih ___. I would like ___. (male / female)

Nije važno. It doesn't matter.

[Ne] slažem se. I [don't] agree.

Gdje je ___? Where is ___ ?

Koliko je to? How much is this?

Gladan / Gladna sam. I'm hungry. (male / female)

Žedan / Žedna 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)

Požuri / Požurite! Hurry up! (informal / formal)

Šta ima novoga? What's new?

Ništa novog. Nothing much.

Sretno! Good luck!

Čestitam! Congratulations!

Nazdravlje! Bless you! (after sneeze)

Ne brini! Don't worry! 

 Upomoć! Help!

Živjeli! Cheers!

Sretan put! Have a nice trip!

Slatki snovi! Sweet dreams!

Sviđaš mi se. I like you.

Volim te. I love you.

Sretan rođendan! Happy birthday!

Sretan Božić! Merry Christmas!

Sretna nova godina! Happy New Year!

Sretni praznici/blagdani! Happy Holidays!

Hvala, također! Thanks, same to you!

Dobar tek! Enjoy your meal!

2. Pronunciation

Letter IPA English example Letter IPA English example

a [a] father l [l] love

b [b] big lj [ʎ] million

c [ʦ] ᕈts m [m] mom

ć [ʧ] chat (softer sound) n [n] no

č [ʨ] church (harder sound) nj [ɲ] onion

d [d] do o [o] hope

đ [ʤ] jungle (harder sound) p [p] pull

dž [ʥ] jumbo (softer sound) r [r] right (rolled)

e [e] bed s [s] son

g
[f]

[g]
fan

good
š

t
[ʃ]

[t]
shed

table

 h [h / x] happy / Bach u [u] shoot

i [i] eat v [v] vault

j [j] you z [z] zero

k [k] kite ž [ʒ] 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 difᕈcult 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

a ah l luh

b buh lj ljuh

c tsuh m muh

ć chuh n nuh

č chuh nj njuh

d duh o oh

đ dzhuh p puh

dž dzhuh r ruh

e uh s suh

f fuh š shuh

g guh t tuh

h huh u oo

j
ee

yuh
v

z
vuh

zuh

 k kuh ž 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: večer (evening) and noć (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, što

Genitive whose, of what (possession, origins) koga, čega

Dative to whom, to what (indirect object) komu, čemu

Accusative whom, what (direct object) koga, što

Vocative (calling / talking directly to someone) dozivanje

Instrumental with whom/what s kim, čim

Locative about o komu, o čemu

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 (učitelj) changes in each of the
following sentences:

Singular Examples

Nominative A teacher had a book. Učitelj je imao knjigu.

Genitive The teacher's book was big. Knjiga učitelja je bila velika.


Dative We went to the teacher. Otišli smo učitelju.

Accusative And we asked the teacher. I upitali smo učitelja.

 Vocative Teacher, is your book big? Učitelju, je li vaša knjiga velika?

Instrumental After our conversation with the Poslije našeg razgovora sa učiteljem.
teacher.

Locative We know more about the teacher. Znamo više o učitelju.

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

Plural Examples

Nominative Some teachers had books. Neki učitelji su imali knjige

Genitive The teachers' books were big. Knjige ucitelja su bile velike

Dative We went to the teachers. Otišli smo učiteljima.

Accusative And we asked the teacher. I upitali smo učitelje.

Vocative Teachers, are your books big? Učitelji, jesu li vaše knjige velike?

Instrumental After the conversation with the Poslije razgovora sa učiteljima.

teachers.

Locative We know more about teachers. Znamo više o učiteljima.

The Croatian language does NOT use deἀ渄nite or indeἀ渄nite 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 muškarac

now sad woman žena

always uvijek boy dječak

never nikad girl djevojčica

something nešto child dijete

nothing ništa book knjiga

also / too također pencil olovka

again opet, iznova, još jednom paper papir

almost za malo dog pas

of course pá dá; naravno cat mačka

6. Subject Pronouns

0:00 / 0:09

Singular Plural


ja I 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 afᕈrm an answer.

biti - to be

short forms

(ja) sam I am (mi) smo we are

(ti) si you are (vi) ste you are

(on/a/o) je he/she/it is (oni/e/a) su they are

long forms

(ja) jesam I am (mi) jesmo we are

(ti) jesi you are (vi) jeste you are


(on/a/o) jest he/she/it is (oni/e/a) jesu they are
 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 - to have

(ja) imam I have (mi) imamo we have

(ti) imaš you have (vi) imate you have

(on/a/o) ima he/she/it has (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 I am not (mi) nismo we are not

(ti) nisi you are not (vi) niste you are not

(on/a/o) nije he/she/it is not (oni/e/a) nisu they are not

negative of imati - to not have

(ja) nemam I do not have (mi) nemamo we do not have

(ti) nemaš you do not have (vi) nemate you do not have

(on/a/o) nema he/she/it does not have (oni/e/a) nemaju they do not have


8. Questions / Pitanja

0:00 / 0:30
 what što why zašto

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 ᕈrst prvi

two dva second drugi

three tri third treći

four četiri fourth četvrti

ᕈve pet ᕈfth peti

six šest sixth šesti

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 četrnaest fourteenth četrnaesti

ᕈfteen petnaest ᕈfteenth petnaesti

sixteen šesnaest sixteenth šesnaesti

seventeen sedamnaest seventeenth sedamnaesti

eighteen osamnaest eighteenth osamnaesti

nineteen devetnaest nineteenth devetnaesti

twenty dvadeset twentieth dvadeseti

twenty-one dvadeset jedan twenty-ᕈrst dvadeset prvi

twenty-two dvadeset dva twenty-second dvadeset drugi

thirty trideset

fourty četrdeset

ᕈfty pedeset

sixty šezdeset

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 tisuću

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, četiri; 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, treći, četvrti). Note that sedam and osam lose their -a before adding the
endings.

10. Days / Dani

Monday ponedjeljak tonight / this evening večeras

Tuesday utorak birthday rođendan

Wednesday srijeda holiday praznik

Thursday četvrtak tomorrow sutra

Friday petak yesterday jučer

Saturday subota day before yesterday prekjučer

Sunday nedjelja day after tomorrow prekosutra

day dan week tjedan

today danas weekend vikend

morning jutro this week ovaj tjedan

evening večer next week idući tjedan

afternoon poslije podne last week prošli tjedan

night noć every week svakog tjedna

last Saturday prošle subote in two weeks za dva tjedna

next Thursday idući četvrtak two weeks ago pred dva tjedna

What day is today? Koji dan je danas?

Today is Friday. Danas je petak.

11. Months / Mjeseci 

 January siječanj month mjesec

February veljača year godina

March ožujak decade desetljeće

April travanj century stoljeće

May svibanj millenium milenijum

June lipanj this month ovog mjeseca

July srpanj next month idući mjesec

August kolovoz last month prošli 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 siječnja.

12. Seasons / Godisnja doba

spring proljeće in the spring u proljeće

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 smeđ triangle trokut

green zelen oval ovalan

orange narančast diamond dijamant

purple ljubičast sphere sfera

red crven cube kocka

pink ružičast pyramind piramida

white bijel cone konus

yellow žut 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, smeđa 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 šest i deset

04:15 četiri i četvrt / četiri i petnaest

07:30 sedam i trideset / pola osam

12:45 četvrt do jedan

midnight ponoć

noon podne

second sekunda

hour sat

minute minuta

half hour pola sata

quarter hour / 15 minutes četvrt sata

Ofᕈcial 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 sunčano

overcast oblačno

cool hladno 
 warm toplo

hot vruće

cold studeno

humid vlažno

foggy maglovito

windy puše vjetar

It's raining Pada kiša

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) bratić

dad tata cousin (female) sestrična

baby beba niece nećakinja

child / children dijete / djeca nephew nećak

daughter kći, kćer, kćerka spouse (male) suprug

son sin spouse (female) supruga

sister sestra wife žena

brother brat husband muž

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

poznaješ poznajete znaš 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 ᕈnal -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 građanin citizen građani citizens

Fem: change to -e ruka hand ruke hands

Fem: add -i laž lie laži lies

Neuter: change to -a polje ᕈeld polja ᕈelds

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 naš naša naše naši naše naša

your vaš vaša vaše vaši vaše vaša

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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