Hrvatski → English
Small words and spelling: i, a, ali, već, još, č or ć, ije or je
The conjunctions i, a, ali and ili, the adverbs već, još and više ne, dobro, puno, jako and često, netko, nešto and negdje against nitko, ništa, nigdje and nikad with ne, and the spelling of č and ć and of ije and je (čaj, kuća, mlijeko, vjetar).
i (and) adds one word or sentence to another, with no comma: Josip i Maja su kod kuće. ili (or) offers a choice: Je li ključ ovdje ili tamo? English and has two Croatian equivalents: i adds, while a sets two people or things side by side in contrast, usually with different places or qualities, and is preceded by a comma: Ti si student, a Petra je studentica. ali (but) introduces something against what is expected, also after a comma: Kuća je lijepa, ali Ivan nije sretan.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| i | and (adding) | Ivan i Petra su tamo. |
| a | and, whereas (contrast) | Marko je sretan, a Ana je umorna. |
| ali | but | Ana je ovdje, ali Josip nije. |
| ili | or | Tko je tamo, Luka ili Maja? |
The English speaker's trap is i for every and: two contrasted people or places are joined by a, not i.
Show the answer Ana ___ Marko su ovdje. iShow the answer
Show the answer Ja sam ovdje, ___ ti si tamo. aShow the answer
već means already: Petra već radi. još means still: Maja još spava. With ne before the verb, još ne means not yet and više ne means no longer, not any more: Ivana još ne radi (she has not started yet), Josip više ne radi (he has stopped). The time word usually comes right before ne and the verb; with biti, it stands first and the short form of biti comes second: Već sam ovdje. Još si mlad.
The English speaker's trap is yet, which has no word of its own: not yet is još ne, the word used for still: Još ne studiram. (I'm not at university yet.)
Show the answer Ana ___ radi, a Luka još spava. većShow the answer
Show the answer Ivan nije mlad, ali je ___ student. jošShow the answer
The adverb of an adjective is usually its neuter form in -o or -e: dobar → dobro (well), lijep → lijepo (beautifully, nicely), loš → loše (badly). It is usually placed before the verb: Ana dobro čita. Tom loše pjeva. puno (a lot) and malo (a little) are used for how much; they come before the verb, or at the end of the sentence when they carry the stress: Petra puno radi. Luka spava malo. jako or vrlo (very) comes before an adjective: Kuća je jako lijepa. često (often) and uvijek (always) are used for how often: Josip često kuha. Ivan je uvijek kod kuće.
A language is named after govoriti by its adjective, with a small letter and no word for language: Govorim hrvatski. Govoriš li engleski?
The English speaker's trap is the adjective in place of the adverb: Luka radi dobar is a mistake for Luka dobro radi.
Show the answer Josip ___ (dobar) govori engleski. dobroShow the answer
Show the answer Marko ___ (loš) spava, uvijek je umoran. lošeShow the answer
The words in ne- mean some-: netko (someone), nešto (something), negdje (somewhere): Netko pjeva. Josip nešto čita. Telefon je negdje tamo. The words in ni- mean no-: nitko (nobody), ništa (nothing), nigdje (nowhere), nikad or nikada (never). They are followed by ne before the verb, so the sentence has two negative words: Nitko ne puši. Ništa ne kuham. Nigdje ne vidim ključ. Nikad ne spavam kasno.
| some | no (+ ne) |
|---|---|
| netko | nitko |
| nešto | ništa |
| negdje | nigdje |
| nikad, nikada |
The English speaker's trap is a single negative: never and nobody take no not in English, but nikad and nitko are followed by ne: Ana nikad ne puši. After a negated verb, English anything is ništa, not nešto: Ne čitam ništa.
Show the answer Je li ___ kod kuće? — Da, Marko. netkoalso: tkoShow the answer
Show the answer Ana ___ piše, ali ne znam što. neštoShow the answer
Every Croatian letter is read in one way, and č ć dž đ š ž are letters of their own. č is a hard ch, as in church: čaj (tea), ključ (key). ć is a softer ch: kuća (house), noć (night). dž and đ are the same pair for j as in jam: džep (pocket), doviđenja (goodbye). lj and nj are one letter each, a soft l and a soft n: ljeto (summer), njemački (German). Many speakers say č and ć alike, so the spelling of each word is learnt with the word.
In the standard language an old long vowel is written ije and a short one je: mlijeko (milk), lijep, lijepa (beautiful), against mjesto (place), vjetar (wind). The ije is usually said as one syllable, mlje-ko. The forms mleko, lep, vetar belong to Serbian, not to standard Croatian.
The English speaker's trap is a missing mark: caj, kuca and kljuc are mistakes for čaj, kuća and ključ, and kuca is another word.
Show the answer “It's tea.” To je ___. čajShow the answer
Show the answer “It's a house.” To je ___. kućaShow the answer
Mixed practice of Joining words and sentences, Already, still and no longer, Saying how and how much, Someone or nobody, something or nothing and Writing the sounds: the small word or the spelling is chosen from the sentence.
Show the answer Ja sam kod kuće, ___ Tom je tamo. aShow the answer
Show the answer Piješ li pivo ___ vino? iliShow the answer
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