Translating Tricky English Structures | Croatian Grammar

By the time you reach C1, most of your remaining errors are not vocabulary gaps — they're structural transfer. You know every word, but you assemble the sentence the English way, and the result is grammatical-looking Croatian that no native speaker would produce. The fix is a mindset: when you hit an English pattern, don't translate the words, translate the structure. The passive, the gerund, "want someone to", "have something done", the continuous tenses, "there is/are", and "I am cold/bored" each map onto a different Croatian construction — and crucially, none of them maps onto its English-shaped equivalent. This page is the conversion table for those structures, with English → Croatian pairs you can drill until the reflex flips.

The passive: reorder, or use se, or a participle

English loves the agentive passive ("The letter was written by Ana"). Croatian has a periphrastic passive (biti + passive participle) and a reflexive se-passive, but it prefers neither when an active version is available. The most idiomatic move is usually to reorder into the active, fronting the object as topic. Use the se-passive when the agent is unknown or irrelevant, and the participial passive mainly for resultant states or formal register. See passive strategies for the full decision tree.

The letter was written by Ana. → Pismo je napisala Ana.

The letter, Ana wrote. — active reorder (object 'pismo' fronted) is the natural Croatian; the agent stays as subject.

The house is being built. → Kuća se gradi.

The house is being built. — 'se'-passive, agent unknown/irrelevant.

The door was locked. → Vrata su bila zaključana.

The door was locked. — participial passive for a resultant state.

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For an English agentive passive, your first instinct should be the active reorder, not biti + participle. Pismo je napisala Ana beats the clunky Pismo je bilo napisano od strane Ane, which reads as bureaucratic translationese.

The gerund: infinitive or verbal noun, never -ing

English uses the -ing gerund for an activity ("I like reading", "Reading is useful"). Croatian has no gerund; you choose between the infinitive (the default after another verb) and the verbal noun in -nje (when the activity is a genuine noun argument). After verbs like voljeti, htjeti, početi, use the infinitive; when the activity is a subject or follows a preposition, the verbal noun is often better.

I like reading. → Volim čitati.

I like to read. — infinitive after 'voljeti'; this is the default.

Reading is useful. → Čitanje je korisno.

Reading is useful. — verbal noun 'čitanje' as the subject.

I'm tired of waiting. → Umoran sam od čekanja.

I'm tired of waiting. — after the preposition 'od', the verbal noun 'čekanja' (genitive).

"Want someone to": the da-clause

English "I want you to come" has no Croatian word-for-word equivalent — there's no accusative-with-infinitive. When the wanter and the doer differ, Croatian switches to a da-clause with a finite verb: Želim da dođeš ("I want you to come", literally "I want that you come"). When the subjects are the same, the infinitive is used: Želim doći ("I want to come"). This same-subject/different-subject split governs many such verbs; see da vs infinitive.

I want to come. → Želim doći.

I want to come. — same subject, so infinitive.

I want you to come. → Želim da dođeš.

I want you to come. — different subjects, so 'da' + finite verb 'dođeš'.

They expect us to win. → Očekuju da pobijedimo.

They expect us to win. — 'da'-clause for the different-subject 'us to win'.

"Have something done": dati + infinitive

English causative "have/get something done" (have the car repaired, get my hair cut) becomes dati ("give") + infinitive, or sometimes a plain reflexive. The literal "have" (imati) does not work here.

I had the car repaired. → Dao sam popraviti auto.

I had the car repaired. — 'dati' + infinitive expresses the causative.

She got her hair cut. → Ošišala se.

She got her hair cut. — reflexive 'se' covers the 'had it done to herself' reading.

Continuous tenses: aspect, not -ing

English marks ongoingness with be + -ing ("I am working", "I was reading"). Croatian has no continuous tense at all; the simple present already covers both "I work" and "I am working", and ongoing emphasis comes from the imperfective aspect plus, if needed, an adverb like sada ("now") or upravo ("right now"). Don't invent a periphrasis — just use the imperfective present.

I'm working right now. → Upravo radim.

I'm working right now. — simple imperfective present + 'upravo'; no '-ing' construction.

What are you doing? → Što radiš?

What are you doing? — plain present 'radiš' = both 'do' and 'are doing'.

I was reading when he called. → Čitao sam kad je nazvao.

I was reading when he called. — imperfective past 'čitao sam' for the ongoing background action.

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There is no Croatian "be + -ing". The imperfective present does the work of the English continuous; reach for an adverb (sada, upravo) only if you must stress the in-progress reading. Inventing a periphrastic continuous is a classic English-transfer error.

"There is / there are": ima / nema + genitive

English "there is/are" has two Croatian answers. For existence and availability, use ima ("there is") and nema ("there isn't") — both impersonal, both governing the genitive. For abstract "there exists", postoji / postoje (agreeing with the noun) is available and more formal.

There's no milk. → Nema mlijeka.

There's no milk. — impersonal 'nema' + genitive 'mlijeka'.

Is there any bread? → Ima li kruha?

Is there any bread? — 'ima' + genitive 'kruha'.

There are several solutions. → Postoji nekoliko rješenja.

There are several solutions. — more formal 'postoji' for abstract existence.

"Have you ever": Jesi li ikad...

English "Have you ever (done X)?" uses the present perfect; Croatian has no perfect tense, so you use the past plus ikad(a) ("ever"). Likewise "I have been -ing for two years" maps to a present tense plus već ("already") — because the action still continues, Croatian sees it as present, not past.

Have you ever been to Croatia? → Jesi li ikad bio u Hrvatskoj?

Have you ever been to Croatia? — past tense + 'ikad'; no perfect tense exists.

I've been living here for two years. → Živim ovdje već dvije godine.

I've been living here for two years. — present 'živim' + 'već', because it's still going on.

I've known her since childhood. → Poznajem je od djetinjstva.

I've known her since childhood. — present 'poznajem', an ongoing state.

"I am cold / bored / sorry": the dative state

A whole class of English "I am + adjective" feelings are not adjectives in Croatian but dative impersonal states: the experiencer goes in the dative, and the state is an impersonal predicate. Hladno mi je ("I'm cold", literally "it-is cold to-me"), Dosadno mi je ("I'm bored"), Žao mi je ("I'm sorry"). Translating these with biti + adjective agreeing with "I" produces wrong or comic Croatian. See impersonal sentences.

I'm cold. → Hladno mi je.

I'm cold. — impersonal 'hladno je' + dative experiencer 'mi'.

She's bored. → Dosadno joj je.

She's bored. — dative 'joj' as the experiencer of 'dosadno je'.

We're sorry. → Žao nam je.

We're sorry. — fixed dative-state idiom 'žao + dative'.

The dummy "it": there isn't one

English needs a placeholder subject ("It is raining", "It seems that..."). Croatian has no dummy subject — the verb simply stands with no subject at all. Supplying to or ono as a fake "it" is a transfer error.

It's raining. → Pada kiša.

It's raining. — literally 'rain is falling'; no dummy subject, 'kiša' is the real subject.

It seems that he's late. → Čini se da kasni.

It seems that he's late. — impersonal 'čini se', no 'it'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Pismo je bilo napisano od strane Ane.

Translationese — the periphrastic agentive passive reads as bureaucratic; reorder to the active.

✅ Pismo je napisala Ana.

Ana wrote the letter (object fronted). — natural active reorder.

❌ Želim te doći. (for 'I want you to come')

Incorrect — different subjects need a 'da'-clause, not an accusative + infinitive.

✅ Želim da dođeš.

I want you to come. — 'da' + finite verb.

❌ Ja sam radeći sada.

Incorrect — Croatian has no 'be + -ing' continuous; use the simple present.

✅ Upravo radim.

I'm working right now. — imperfective present.

❌ Tamo je mlijeko? / Nije mlijeko. (for 'there's no milk')

Incorrect — existence uses impersonal 'ima/nema' + genitive, not 'biti' + nominative.

✅ Nema mlijeka.

There's no milk. — 'nema' + genitive.

❌ Ja sam hladan. (for 'I'm cold')

Means 'I am a cold person'; the feeling is a dative state, not an adjective agreeing with 'I'.

✅ Hladno mi je.

I'm cold. — impersonal dative-state.

❌ To kiši / Ono pada kiša.

Incorrect — Croatian has no dummy 'it'; the verb stands subjectless.

✅ Pada kiša.

It's raining. — no dummy subject.

Key Takeaways

The hardest translation work is structural, not lexical — translate the construction, not the words.
Passive → active reorder (default) / se-passive / participle. Gerund → infinitive or -nje verbal noun. "Want X to" → da-clause (different subject) vs infinitive (same subject).
Continuous → imperfective present, no -ing. "There is/are" → ima/nema
- genitive (or postoji). "Have you ever" → past + ikad; "have been -ing" → present + već.
"I am cold/bored/sorry" → dative impersonal state (Hladno mi je, Žao mi je), not biti
- adjective.
There is no dummy "it": Pada kiša, Čini se da... stand subjectless.

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