Reporting that something was said is the grammar of reported speech; attributing it to a source — and signalling how much you vouch for it — is a discourse skill of its own, and the backbone of any newspaper article, essay, or careful argument. Croatian gives you a set of reporting verbs that quietly encode your stance (neutral kaže „says" versus distancing tvrdi „claims"), the construction prema + dative for „according to," the marker navodno „allegedly" for hearsay you will not endorse, and its own quotation marks — the low-high pair „…" that differs from the English "…". Used well, these let you report a claim while making your own degree of belief unmistakable.
Reporting verbs and the stance they carry
The verb you choose to attribute words is never neutral about your attitude. The same sentence can be reported with kaže (you take no position), tvrdi (you signal possible doubt), smatra (it is their opinion), or priznaje (it was reluctantly admitted). Picking the verb is half the editorialising.
| Verb | English | Stance it signals |
|---|---|---|
| kaže / reći | says | neutral — pure attribution, no judgement |
| tvrdi / tvrditi | claims, asserts | distancing — implies it may be disputed |
| smatra / smatrati | considers, holds | marks it as the source's opinion/judgement |
| dodaje / dodati | adds | appends a further point to the same source |
| izjavljuje / izjaviti | states, declares | formal, on-the-record (statements, press) |
Premijer kaže da će porezi ostati nepromijenjeni.
The PM says taxes will stay unchanged. — neutral 'kaže'; the reporter takes no position.
Oporba tvrdi da su brojke namještene.
The opposition claims the figures are rigged. — 'tvrdi' distances the reporter from the assertion.
Stručnjaci smatraju da je rizik precijenjen.
Experts consider the risk overestimated. — 'smatraju' frames it as their professional opinion.
Ministar je potvrdio cijenu i dodao da pregovori još traju.
The minister confirmed the price and added that talks are still ongoing. — 'dodao' appends a further point from the same source.
prema + dative: „according to"
To attribute information to a source without a reporting verb, Croatian uses prema plus the dative: prema izvorima „according to sources," prema podacima „according to the data," prema njemu „according to him." It is the standard, slightly formal frame of reporting and journalism, and it keeps you one careful step back from the claim — you are relaying it, not asserting it.
Prema izvorima bliskim vladi, odluka pada sutra.
According to sources close to the government, the decision falls tomorrow. — 'prema' + dative 'izvorima'.
Prema posljednjim podacima, nezaposlenost je pala.
According to the latest data, unemployment has fallen. — 'prema' + dative 'podacima'.
Prema njoj, sve je prošlo bez problema.
According to her, everything went off without a hitch. — 'prema' + dative pronoun 'njoj'; relaying, not endorsing.
navodno: „allegedly" — maximal distancing
When you want to report something while making clear you do not stand behind it — rumour, an unverified claim, a leak — the adverb navodno „allegedly / supposedly / reportedly" does the work in a single word. It is the strongest distancing device here: it tells the listener „this is what is being said, and I am explicitly not confirming it." A close cousin is kao (in kao da „as if") and the colloquial tobože „supposedly," which adds open scepticism.
Navodno je dao ostavku, ali to još nije potvrđeno.
He has allegedly resigned, but it's not yet confirmed. — 'navodno' flags the claim as unverified.
Cijene će navodno porasti već idući mjesec.
Prices will reportedly rise as soon as next month. — 'navodno' distances the speaker from the forecast.
Tobože je bolestan, a vidjeli su ga na utakmici.
He's supposedly ill, yet they saw him at the match. — 'tobože' adds open scepticism, almost sarcasm.
Citing the source's exact words: kao što kaže
To fold a source's exact phrasing into your own sentence, the standard frame is kao što kaže… „as … says/puts it," followed by the name. It introduces a near-quotation and credits it cleanly, common in essays and speeches.
Kao što kaže poslovica, tko rano rani, dvije sreće grabi.
As the proverb says, the early bird catches two strokes of luck. — 'kao što kaže' frames a quoted saying.
Kao što kaže autorica, problem nije u zakonu nego u njegovoj primjeni.
As the author puts it, the problem is not the law but its application. — crediting a near-quote to a named source.
Croatian quotation marks: „…"
Croatian punctuation uses the low-opening, high-closing pair „ … " — the opening mark sits on the baseline („) and the closing mark up high ("). This differs from the English "…", where both marks are high. In careful Croatian typesetting you write „citat" — never the English "citat". The dash (—) is also used to introduce a speaker's line in dialogue, especially in literary prose, where each new turn starts on its own line with an em dash instead of quotation marks.
Rekla je: „Vraćam se za sat vremena.”
She said: 'I'll be back in an hour.' — Croatian quotation marks: low-opening „ and high-closing ”.
Naslov članka glasi „Grad bez prometa”.
The article's title reads 'A City Without Traffic'. — the low-high „…” pair around a cited title.
— Jesi li gotov? — upitala je. — Skoro.
'Are you done?' she asked. 'Almost.' — the em dash introduces each spoken turn in literary dialogue.
Common Mistakes
❌ Prema njega, sve je u redu.
Wrong case — 'prema' governs the DATIVE, so it must be 'prema njemu', not the accusative/genitive 'njega'.
✅ Prema njemu, sve je u redu.
According to him, everything is fine. — 'prema' + dative 'njemu'.
❌ Oporba kaže da su brojke namještene. (a želiš se ograditi)
Stance mismatch — if you want to distance yourself from a disputed claim, choose 'tvrdi' (claims), not the neutral 'kaže'.
✅ Oporba tvrdi da su brojke namještene.
The opposition claims the figures are rigged. — 'tvrdi' signals the reporter isn't vouching for it.
❌ Rekla je: ”Vraćam se.”
Wrong marks — both marks placed up high, English-style; Croatian opens low with „.
✅ Rekla je: „Vraćam se.”
She said: 'I'll be back.' — correct Croatian quotation marks, low-opening „ and high-closing ”.
❌ Dao je ostavku, ali nije potvrđeno. (a nisi siguran)
Missing the hedge — if the resignation is unconfirmed, mark it with 'navodno' rather than stating it as fact.
✅ Navodno je dao ostavku, ali nije potvrđeno.
He has allegedly resigned, but it's unconfirmed. — 'navodno' flags hearsay.
Key Takeaways
- Reporting verbs encode your stance: kaže (neutral „says"), tvrdi (distancing „claims"), smatra (opinion „considers"), dodaje (appends „adds"), izjavljuje (formal „states").
- prema + DATIVE = „according to" (prema izvorima, prema njoj) — the standard, source-relaying frame; mind the dative case.
- navodno = „allegedly" — the single-word marker for an unverified claim you will not endorse; tobože goes further into open scepticism.
- The distancing scale: kaže → tvrdi → prema + dative → navodno → tobože.
- kao što kaže… frames a near-quotation and credits its source.
- Croatian writes quotations with the low-high pair „…" (not the English
"…"); literary dialogue often uses the em dash to open each spoken turn.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Reported (Indirect) SpeechB1 — Turning statements, questions and commands into indirect speech — with the crucial rule that Croatian does NOT backshift tenses.
- tvrditi (to claim / assert)B2 — The asserting verb — 'tvrditi' (tvrdim) takes a da-clause or the accusative; it asserts something as fact. Contrast 'reći' (say) and 'smatrati' (consider).
- Building Cohesion Across SentencesC1 — How Croatian threads reference across a text — pro-drop and zero anaphora, demonstratives pointing back, connectives like stoga and međutim, and given-before-new ordering — without the articles English leans on.
- Reformulation and EmphasisB2 — Saying it again, better — naime, to jest, drugim riječima, zapravo for reformulation; upravo, baš, pa for emphasis; doduše, istina for concession — and the subtle gap between zapravo and naime.
- Politeness Strategies and RequestsB1 — How Croatian softens a request — the conditional 'Biste li…?', molim te/Vas, question-form asks, diminutives like kavica, and the bluntness scale from a bare imperative to a polished entreaty.