Everyday Questions

A conversation in Croatian is built out of a small set of high-frequency questions that recur dozens of times a day — Kako si?, Odakle si?, Koliko košta? The fastest way to feel fluent is not to study question grammar in the abstract but to memorise these as whole units, together with the answer that naturally follows. That is what this page does: each question comes with a ready reply, the way you would actually hear it on the street, in a shop, or at a kitchen table. The underlying mechanics — how wh-words like gdje and kako front a question, and how the clitic li builds yes/no questions — live on wh-questions and yes/no questions.

„How are you?": Kako si? / Kako ste?

The opener after bok or dobar dan is almost always Kako si? („How are you?", informal) or Kako ste? (formal/plural). The split is the ti/vi distinction baked into the verb ending — si for one person you are close to, ste for a stranger, an elder, or several people.

The expected answer is short and almost always uses the adverb dobro, plus a bounce-back question:

„What's up?": Što ima?

Among friends, the casual equivalent of „What's up?" is Što ima? (literally „what is there?"). It is firmly (informal) and pairs with a shrug-and-answer like ništa posebno („nothing special").

„Where are you from?": Odakle si?

Odakle si? asks origin („Where are you from?"). The answer uses iz + the genitive of the place — iz Hrvatske, iz Zagreba, iz Amerike. The preposition iz always forces the genitive, so the country name changes shape.

„Where do you live?": Gdje živiš?

Gdje živiš? („Where do you live?") asks location, so the answer uses u + the locative — u Zagrebu, u Rijeci. Don't confuse it with odakle si (origin, genitive): living somewhere takes a different case from coming from somewhere.

„What do you do (for work)?": Čime se baviš?

The natural way to ask someone's occupation is Čime se baviš? — literally „with what do you occupy yourself?", using the reflexive verb baviti se with its object in the instrumental (čime = instrumental of što). The reply is also instrumental: bavim se + [noun]. Alternatively, and more simply, you can say Što radiš? („What do you do?").

„How old are you?": Koliko imaš godina?

Age is not „I am X years"; Croatian has its years: Koliko imaš godina? („How old are you?", literally „how many years do you have?"). The answer pairs a number with the right form of godina — and that is where it gets tricky: after 2, 3, 4 you say godine, but from 5 upward godina (genitive plural).

„Do you speak English?": Govoriš li engleski?

A yes/no question is built with the clitic li right after the verb: Govoriš li engleski? („Do you speak English?"). The answer is Da, govorim or Ne, ne govorim — and note Croatian repeats the verb rather than using a bare „yes / no" tag.

„Where is…?": Gdje je…?

The single most useful travel question is Gdje je…? („Where is…?"). The thing you are looking for stays in the nominative; the answer typically uses a location preposition (kod, pored, u, na) with the case it governs.

„How much does it cost?": Koliko košta?

In any shop or market you will need Koliko košta? („How much does it cost?", one item) or Koliko to košta?. For several items, the verb goes plural: Koliko koštaju?

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Greet with Kako si? (informal) / Kako ste? (formal) and always bounce the question back: a ti? / a vi?
• Origin uses odakle + iz + genitive (iz Hrvatske); living somewhere uses gdje + u + locative (u Zagrebu) — two different cases.
• Occupation: Čime se baviš? answered in the instrumental (bavim se programiranjem), or the simpler Što radiš?
• Age is had, not been: Koliko imaš godina? — Imam 23 godine / 25 godina, with the number deciding godine vs godina.
• Yes/no questions take the clitic li after the verb (Govoriš li…?) and are answered by repeating the verb (Da, govorim).
• The two survival questions for travel: Gdje je…? and Koliko košta? (plural koštaju).