Fixed Prepositional Phrases | Croatian Grammar

A preposition plus a noun is normally a productive, build-it-yourself structure: pick the preposition, put the noun in whatever case it governs, swap the noun for another and the phrase still works. But a sizeable group of Croatian prepositional phrases have frozen — they have lexicalised into fixed units that you memorize whole, like single words. You do not assemble na vrijeme "on time" from parts and you cannot tinker with it: the noun stays in exactly that case, in exactly that number, and the meaning is the meaning of the whole phrase, not the sum of na + vrijeme. For an English speaker the trap is that the equivalent English phrase ("on time", "in any case") almost never lines up with the Croatian preposition or case, so word-for-word translation fails. This page collects the highest-frequency of these phrases, groups them by function, and explains why the case is locked.

What "fixed" means here

In a live prepositional phrase the case is chosen by the preposition and is visibly variable: u kući "in the house" (locative), u kuću "into the house" (accusative). In a fixed phrase the case is part of the stored expression — it does not vary, and changing it produces something wrong or different in meaning. Na vrijeme is always vrijeme (accusative singular); you never hear *na vremenu for "on time". The phrase is stored and retrieved as one chunk.

Stigli smo na vrijeme, vlak još nije ni krenuo.

We arrived on time, the train hadn't even left yet.

Sve je u redu, ne brini.

Everything's fine, don't worry.

💡

Treat each phrase on this page as a single vocabulary item, not a grammar pattern. Memorize the case inside the phrase (na vrijeme, u pravu, po mom mišljenju) the way you memorize an irregular plural — there is no rule to apply, only a form to recall.

"OK / fine" and "being right": u redu, biti u pravu

U redu literally means "in order / in a row", but as a fixed phrase it is the everyday "OK, fine, all right" — both as an answer ("OK!") and as a predicate ("everything is in order"). Biti u pravu "to be right (correct)" is a true idiom: pravo here is a frozen noun in the locative, and the phrase never agrees with the subject — a woman is just as much u pravu as a man. This is a classic transfer trap, because English uses an adjective ("to be right") where Croatian uses a fixed prepositional phrase with the verb biti.

Možeš li doći u sedam? — U redu, vidimo se.

Can you come at seven? — OK, see you.

Imala si pravo, trebali smo krenuti ranije.

You were right, we should have set off earlier.

Mislim da nisi u pravu oko toga.

I think you're not right about that.

Note the two related shapes: biti u pravu "to be right" (fixed locative) and imati pravo "to be right / to have the right" (fixed accusative). Both are common; imati pravo doubles as "to have the right (to do something)", so context disambiguates.

Time phrases: na vrijeme, s vremena na vrijeme, na kraju

These are the phrases where English prepositions most reliably mislead. Na vrijeme is "on time / in time" (accusative, never locative). S vremena na vrijeme "from time to time" is a doubly frozen idiom — s vremena (genitive after s in this set phrase) plus na vrijeme (accusative) — and you simply learn it as a block. Na kraju "in the end / at the end" (locative) is the standard wrap-up phrase and also a discourse marker (see sequencing and topic management).

S vremena na vrijeme volim otići sam u kino.

From time to time I like to go to the cinema alone.

Na kraju smo ipak odlučili ostati kod kuće.

In the end we decided to stay home after all.

Predaj rad na vrijeme, profesorica ne prima zakašnjele radove.

Hand the paper in on time, the professor doesn't accept late ones.

Hedging and qualifying: po mom mišljenju, u svakom slučaju, bez obzira (na)

This cluster lets you frame an opinion or concede a point. Po mom mišljenju "in my opinion" pairs po with the locative mišljenju and is the standard hedge — far more idiomatic than a literal "I think that…". U svakom slučaju "in any case / anyway" (locative) closes off alternatives. Bez obzira (na) "regardless (of)" takes na + accusative when an object follows (bez obzira na cijenu "regardless of the price") and stands alone as bez obzira "regardless / all the same".

Po mom mišljenju, cijela je rasprava gubljenje vremena.

In my opinion, the whole debate is a waste of time.

U svakom slučaju, javit ću ti se sutra ujutro.

In any case, I'll get in touch with you tomorrow morning.

Idem na koncert bez obzira na cijenu karte.

I'm going to the concert regardless of the ticket price.

The case behaviour of bez obzira is the one productive corner here: bez obzira na governs the accusative of whatever follows (na cijenu, na vrijeme, na to što… "regardless of the fact that…"). Everything else in the phrase is frozen. For the underlying logic of bez and other abstract prepositions, see abstract and causal prepositions.

Illustrating and listing: na primjer

Na primjer "for example" (accusative, abbreviated npr. in writing) is the standard way to introduce an instance. It is frozen as the accusative singular primjer; you never inflect it to match anything.

Volim mediteransku kuhinju — na primjer, dalmatinsku pašticadu.

I love Mediterranean cuisine — for example, Dalmatian pašticada.

Mnoge stvari poskupljuju, na primjer struja i hrana.

Many things are getting more expensive, for example electricity and food.

Quick reference table

Phrase	Meaning	Frozen case	Note
u redu	OK, fine	locative	also literal "in a row"
na vrijeme	on time	accusative	never na vremenu
biti u pravu	to be right	locative	no agreement with subject
imati pravo	to be right; have the right	accusative	two senses
s vremena na vrijeme	from time to time	gen. + acc.	doubly frozen
na primjer	for example	accusative	abbrev. npr.
u svakom slučaju	in any case	locative	anyway
bez obzira (na)	regardless (of)	na + acc.	object in accusative
po mom mišljenju	in my opinion	locative	standard hedge
na kraju	in the end	locative	also a discourse marker

💡

When English uses an adjective, Croatian often uses a frozen prepositional phrase: "to be right" → biti u pravu, "OK" → u redu. Resist the urge to build an adjectival equivalent — there isn't one, and the phrase is what natives actually reach for.

Common Mistakes

❌ Stigli smo na vremenu.

Incorrect — 'on time' is the fixed accusative 'na vrijeme', never the locative 'na vremenu'.

✅ Stigli smo na vrijeme.

We arrived on time. — frozen accusative.

❌ Mislim da si prava.

Incorrect — 'you're right' is the fixed phrase 'u pravu' (it doesn't become an agreeing adjective): 'Mislim da si u pravu'.

✅ Mislim da si u pravu.

I think you're right. — 'u pravu' is invariable, no subject agreement.

❌ Po moje mišljenje, to je pogreška.

Incorrect — 'in my opinion' is 'po' + locative: 'po mom mišljenju', not the nominative 'moje mišljenje'.

✅ Po mom mišljenju, to je pogreška.

In my opinion, that's a mistake. — fixed locative.

❌ Idem bez obzira na cijene karte.

Incorrect — singular object here: 'bez obzira na cijenu karte'; and 'na' governs the accusative, which 'cijenu' (not 'cijene') is.

✅ Idem bez obzira na cijenu karte.

I'm going regardless of the ticket price. — 'bez obzira na' + accusative.

❌ Vidimo se od vremena do vremena.

Calque from English/another language — Croatian's fixed phrase is 's vremena na vrijeme', not 'od vremena do vremena'.

✅ Vidimo se s vremena na vrijeme.

We see each other from time to time. — frozen idiom.

Key Takeaways

These phrases are stored whole, like vocabulary items — the case inside them is frozen and not derivable from a rule.
The biggest trap is transfer: English "on time", "in any case", "to be right" map onto Croatian phrases with different prepositions and cases (na vrijeme, u svakom slučaju, biti u pravu).
biti u pravu does not agree with its subject; a woman is u pravu just as a man is. Compare imati pravo (accusative), which also means "to have the right".
The only live case slot is bez obzira na + accusative when an object follows; everything else is fixed.
po mom mišljenju is the natural opinion hedge, and na kraju doubles as a closing discourse marker.

Now practice Croatian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Croatian→